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Shubman Gill, KL Rahul may make India forget Dravid, Laxman but the self destruction shouldn't be forgiven
Shubman Gill and KL Rahul battled England with a 174-run stand, evoking memories of Eden 2001, as India aim to save the Manchester Test from defeat.
Every time India are in a pitched batting battle to salvage a near lost cause, the mind invariably drifts to Eden Gardens, the theatre of dreams, where VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid orchestrated one of Test cricket’s most celebrated fightbacks. Having swapped places in the batting order from the first innings, the stylist from Hyderabad and the technician from Bengaluru put on 376 for the fifth wicket, a partnership that overturned a 274-run deficit and set the stage for a remarkable 171-run defeat of Steve Waugh’s all-conquering Australia in 2001.
On Sunday, another technician from Bengaluru, Dravid’s first-namesake, and a stylist from Punjab will be tasked with steering the Indian ship to safe shores on the final day of the fourth Test against England, at Old Trafford. KL Rahul and Shubman Gill have already put on 174 for the third wicket, but they are a long way away from getting the job done. Despite their burgeoning partnership, which is also India’s score in the second innings following the loss of the first two wickets without a run on the board, India need 137 more just to stave off an innings defeat. To say that a protracted dogfight for survival and a stern examination of their defensive skills and character lies in wait will be an understatement.
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Much of India’s predicament is of their own making. Hedging their bets and placing their eggs in the all-rounders basket, India forsook a grand opportunity to unleash Kuldeep Yadav’s left-arm wrist-spin on England, who don’t necessarily play that variety of bowling with any assurance. Instead, they plumped for Shardul Thakur, whose bowling doesn’t seem to infuse any confidence in his captain. They also opted to blood Anshul Kamboj, almost fresh off the plane, when turning again to Prasidh Krishna would have been more prudent – perhaps, yes, we are talking with the benefit of hindsight. If India are so far behind after the two first innings, it’s not hard to see where the blame lies.
Old Trafford awaits a new Eden
That’s in the past, though. The past is often used as a learning tool; there’s no point dwelling on it right now, with a Test to save, a series defeat to ward off. The focus must be on the immediate task – to bat through 90 overs on a tricky but not yet spiteful surface so that the series is alive going into the final Test next week.
For that objective to be guaranteed, Rahul and Gill must bat together for as long as they already have --- a little over four and a half hours. They will be mindful that Rishabh Pant defied all norms to brave a broken foot in the first innings, and to expect him to pull off an encore will be unrealistic. They will be aware that despite the depth in their batting, with Washington Sundar slotting in at No. 8, no two other batters are as equipped as they are at batting time, at stonewalling the opposition, at striking the right balance between occupation of the crease and the constant uptick of the scoreboard.
Laxman and Dravid didn’t have all these things to worry about. India were so far behind the game after day three in Kolkata that anything other than a spanking defeat was out of the question until their day-four heroics, when they played through the entire day while adding 335 runs and putting their side 315 ahead. By the start of the final day, the hunted had emphatically turned the hunted. There is no scope for that at Old Trafford.
The best India can hope for is to escape unscathed, still only 1-2 down while travelling back to the English capital for The Oval showdown. Anything beyond that will not even be in the realms of their mind space.
The Pant situation is just one of several things Rahul and Gill need to take into consideration. True, England’s bowlers looked tired, but a night’s rest, the prospect of a winning series lead, the second new ball which is 17 overs away and the sight of Ben Stokes at the bowling crease are guaranteed to lift them. After his heroics in the two first innings – a five-fer on days one and two, a 14th hundred that spanned days three and four – the England skipper didn’t bowl on Saturday. In all probability, that will change, come Sunday. The talismanic Stokes makes things happen; no English bowler, not even Jofra Archer, has looked so consistently threatening. For India to neutralise his perennial threat, Rahul and Gill must kick on from 87 and 78 respectively. D’you think 281 and 180? Or the other way round?
