A new cavalry has arrived. They don’t care for the weather, the pitch, the opponents, their bowling or their batting. Also taken out of the equation is any ambiguity that comes with batting first. Is 300 a good score? Or 350? Doesn’t matter. Chasing is their wont. All this new England need are two numbers—the target and the time left. Brave? Why not see it as simple, trickle-down mathematics? Last month, England scored at almost 10 per over in an
A new cavalry has arrived. They don’t care for the weather, the pitch, the opponents, their bowling or their batting. Also taken out of the equation is any ambiguity that comes with batting first. Is 300 a good score? Or 350? Doesn’t matter. Chasing is their wont. All this new England need are two numbers—the target and the time left. Brave? Why not see it as simple, trickle-down mathematics? Last month, England scored at almost 10 per over in an ODI in Amstelveen. Why can’t they go at five per over (4.93) in Tests? “I've stripped it all back to the basics,” claimed Jonny Bairstow, after scoring centuries in both innings. Simple, really.
After holding the edge in the first three days, India were well and truly reduced to being bystanders as England chased 378 in 76.4 overs to win the Edgbaston Test by seven wickets and square the five match series 2-2 to deny India their first series win since 2007. With centuries apiece, Bairstow (114) and Joe Root (142) clobbered a listless Indian bowling attack into submission in a 269-run partnership coming off just 315 balls. Needing 119 when the day started, England performed the last rites with remarkable ease, the duo adding 200 in 249 balls and the next 50 in 61 balls. Fittingly and symbolically, the winning run came off Root’s reverse sweep, heralding a new age of cricket where England have pulled off four astonishing chases in four successive Test matches—277, 299, 296 and now 378.
"We are trying to rewrite how Test cricket is being played, in England in particular,” said England captain Ben Stokes after the win. “We know that we want to give new life to Test cricket, and the support that we've had has been incredible. We are bringing a new set of fans to Test cricket. We want to leave a mark.”
Nothing came in the way of England’s desire to change the game, neither Rishabh Pant’s century nor Ravindra Jadeja’s rearguard action. Jasprit Bumrah’s bludgeoning of Stuart Broad was reduced to a footnote, as was Cheteshwar Pujara’s second-innings resilience. Unless you were living under a rock, you must have been familiar with England’s new-found penchant for chasing. But India probably were a touch complacent, thinking 378 was enough after stuffing up their batting.
“We fell short with the bat yesterday and that is where we let the opposition in to let the match slip away from us,” said Bumrah at the post-match presentation. The bowling too came up short, failing to even challenge Stokes and Bairstow in the morning session. The quicker Indians bowled, the quicker they were dispatched to the boundaries. It was all over in 90 minutes.
“We weren’t able to sustain that intensity while bowling,” said India head coach Rahul Dravid at the post-match media interaction.
In the aftermath of yet another sobering defeat away from home, India have a lot to introspect. Thrice now they have failed to defend proper Test targets—twice in South Africa, and now here at Edgbaston. Mohammed Siraj bowled wide and back of the length, giving Root and Bairstow ample time and space to free their hands. Mohammed Shami, India’s silent enforcer in the first innings, looked troubled controlling the seam of a changed ball. And Jadeja was held back too long before he started landing the ball in the rough. It didn’t matter anyway. India couldn’t dent England’s belief.
Check their economies—Bumrah 4.5, Shami 4.26, Siraj 6.53, Shardul Thakur 5.9—as well. They didn’t become bad overnight. England were just too good for them. Root kept adding runs and more runs to an already spectacular season. Bairstow, well, was being himself. More than half of the runs they scored came from behind the wicket. The flick was extremely productive but on display throughout the morning was a montage of authoritative late cuts and taps through the slips. It was a catch-22 situation for India, watching Root and Bairstow pierce the slips for a four and stealing an easy single if a man was parked at third man. Four, singles, twos or maidens—England were clear but cavalier in their approach.
Forget which roller was used in the morning, degrees of spin and swing, technique, defence or pacing the chase. Refusing to be overwhelmed by the significance of 378—19 more than the Headingley Ashes special in 2019—England kept finding ways to score. No one wore that attitude better than Root, skipping down the pitch to hammer Thakur’s length ball right over his head for a four before reverse scooping him over the slip cordon for a six. This isn’t the Test cricket we used to know. This is taking the game to a whole new level.
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