After their disappointing display in the fourth innings of the Test match when they failed to defend a target of 378, India’s bowling unit was expected to be under some pressure for the remainder of the England tour. At the end of their campaign, however, they have done exceedingly well to redeem themselves with a dominant show in the white-ball series.
It won’t be wrong to say that England remains the team to beat in limited overs cricket and beating
After their disappointing display in the fourth innings of the Test match when they failed to defend a target of 378, India’s bowling unit was expected to be under some pressure for the remainder of the England tour. At the end of their campaign, however, they have done exceedingly well to redeem themselves with a dominant show in the white-ball series.
It won’t be wrong to say that England remains the team to beat in limited overs cricket and beating them in England has become the benchmark that teams are judged against. They are the world champions in 50 overs cricket and have built a formidable reputation in T20 cricket, reaching the semifinals at the previous T20 World Cup. Their success is mainly built on their batting strength. To the delight of the Indian fans, the famed line-up was tamed by the visitors to clinch both the One-day and T20 series, by identical 2-1 margins.
It was not just the results, it was the manner of victory that was impressive as the Indian side counts its gains from the tour which the team management had attached a lot of importance to in their preparation for the T20 World Cup.
Except for one game, the third T20I on the flat deck of Trent Bridge, Nottingham, the bowlers never allowed the home side players to break free. The pressure was relentless.
The numbers tell the story. England were restricted to 148 all out in the first T20 and skittled out for 121 in the second T20 to hand India comfortable wins after batting first.
ODI DEMOLITION JOB
In the ODIs, England’s highest total was 259, in the third game. They had a forgettable outing in the first, all out for 110. They huffed and puffed to 246 in the second tie, before their bowlers won them the game.
The bowlers loved the English conditions. There is no better sight than watching two great fast bowlers operate in tandem. It was a delight to watch the new ball pairing of Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami operate together in the ODIs. The duo put on a show for the connoisseurs in the opening fixture at The Oval.
England's batters were like a cat on a hot tin roof with Bumrah picking up six wickets and Shami three. It was a special performance because the world champions were playing at full batting strength for the first time since the 2019 World Cup final - Bumrah and Shami finished the innings off in 25.2 overs.
With Hardik Pandya and Yuzvendra Chahal doing a splendid job in the middle overs, India had an embarrassment of riches. Pandya used the short ball to deadly effect. Chahal was at the England batters like a chess wizard. It was a treat to watch how he enticed the England batters to their doom luring them to go for the sweep shots in the Lord’s ODI. Jonny Bairstow, Jose Root full and Ben Stokes all perished to the full, loopy balls. The leg-spinner finished the ODI series with seven wickets in three games, at an economy rate of just 5.35.
Captain Rohit Sharma spoke about his importance to India’s white-ball plans after being left out of last year's T20 World Cup.
“He is a critical member for us. He has got so much experience, bowling in all sorts of white-ball formats. It was very unfortunate that he missed the last T20 World Cup, but I'm pleased with how he has come back after the World Cup and gone from strength to strength,” said Sharma.
BHUVI’S SWING
In the T20Is, Bhuvneshwar Kumar was the star performer. He was superb in the first T20I to set the tone for India’s domination. In the second game, he put on a show of skills to walk away with the man of the match award by prizing out both openers, Jason Roy and Jos Buttler to finish with three wickets for 15 runs.
Like Shami in the ODIs, Kumar formed an equally incisive new ball pairing with Jasprit Bumrah. He finished with four wickets in two games for an economy rate of 4.16. Bumrah tormented the batters again with two wickets for just 10 runs in three overs. India could afford to rest their two strike bowlers for the inconsequential last match of the series.
Pandya continued his impressive form. He finished the first T20I as a contest with four wickets for 33 runs to reduce England to 107 for seven. He was the highest wicket-taker of the series with five wickets. The pace bowling all-rounder finished the limited overs as he started with a four-wicket haul with the use of an effective short-ball strategy in the last ODI to fashion India’s victory.
Left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh played only one game before picking up an unfortunate injury. But in the 3.3 overs he bowled, he did enough to show that he has a bright future ahead of him. Starting with a maiden, he picked up two wickets for 18 runs in 3.3 overs he bowled in the first T20I.
When coach Rahul Dravid took charge of the team, his main challenge was to help improve India’s record in the ICC limited overs tournament. It is the one area that needed to be worked upon after the reign of the previous coach Ravi Shastri. The first target is the T20 World Cup in three months’ time before the 50-over World Cup next year.
Dravid was delighted with the performance of his bowlers while pointing out how effectively they bowled in the final ODI.
"We were fantastic with the ball," Dravid told the BCCI website. "It was exceptional the way we bowled. That was a really good wicket, and to be able to restrict a team like England to 259, we did fantastically well. We picked up a few wickets upfront, then they built a partnership, but I thought our tactics and strategy was absolutely brilliant.”
At one time, India’s success in limited overs contests was also mainly built around their batting. It was heartening to see that this time the bowlers called the shots.
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