Indian disaster at Headingley shows their inability to groom a capable bowling unit

ICC World Test Championship

The Day 5 of Headingley Test could have been labelled as a miracle if this any other team would have done what this English Team did. However, for this Bazball driven team, it was just another day at the office. We had enough days to reflect on the result of the first Test and it still feels like an anomaly. Maybe for England. But for India it was just one thing: a catastrophe. 

This has happened before in exactly the same manner. In 2022, at Birmingham. It was deja-vu. Jasprit Bumrah was the captain then, Shubman Gill it was this time. Gill couldn't have had a tougher introduction to Test captaincy and the challenges it brings. It might be harsh to judge him from what we saw on the field in the first Test but one thing is certain what everyone feared, he looks out of place as a captain. This is also because rather than grooming a proper Test captain, his appointment to the post was abrupt. The selection committee is the sole body who should be blamed for such a hara-kiri rarely seen in the last two few decades of Indian cricket. Gill will only improve from here on but India would hope he can do it sooner so they are able to put up a challenge in this series. He needs to draw inspiration from his own batting performance, an excellent hundred in conditions he hasn't mastered so far. 

There is no doubt that this English side loves to chase especially at home. They did this to New Zealand three times in a row during the maiden series of B Mac and Stokesy era. Three targets of 275+ were chase at a run rate of 3.53, 5.98 and 5.44 in the fourth innings at the English soil. The 378-run chase against India was next. Then came the almost another Stokes special at Lord's against Australia followed by another 250+ chase at a tough Headingley pitch. But you can't just limit their excellence to chasing these totals at a rapid rate. This side has done some special things away. they have managed to pull wins on extremely placid wickets of Pakistan four times in a row. An Ollie Pope classic bamboozled India in Hyderabad to get a win for his side from nowhere and they recently dominated the Kiwis on their home soil to seal a comfortable 2-1 win.

Extraordinary is just a word for the the man running this ship. Sir Benjamin Andrew Stokes has a knack of making things happen on a pitch where other bowlers are unable to do anything. He did it again in the first innings with the ball getting wickets out of nowhere and turning the pitch to look like a typical English pitch, finishing with 4-66. But his excellence doesn't lie in making himself look invincible with this young bowling attack. He has done this numerous times playing with the likes of legends like Sir James Anderson and Stuart Broad on pitches where even these two couldn't make things happen. Add to it the batting exploits he has produced which us mere mortals can only imagine in their dreams. Stats cannot be the benchmark of the legacy Stokes is going to leave behind in red-ball cricket once he hangs his boots. Even at 34 as a injury plagued fast-bowling allrounder, his commitment to red-ball cricketing is so refreshing to see.

 

Talking of greatness, there is one man standing tall on the other side in the Indian bowling attack. Jasprit Bumrah saw multiple dropped catches plus a wicket off a no-ball and still managed to finish with his fourteenth Test fifer thus becoming the highest Asian wicket-taker in SENA conditions surpassing the great Wasim Akram. The English had a simple plan to see off Bumrah and go after the other Indian bowlers. They applied it successfully in the second innings thus keeping him wicketless which was the biggest reason of how they managed to achieve this fourth innings mountain.

Questions need to be asked from the selectors, the coach and the captain of the team. What were the others doing? People will say that it's too early into his career to judge Prasidh Krishna's Test credentials. But one should remember that he has played all his four games overseas in extremely favorable bowling conditions of South Africa, Australia and England yet I do not remember even one impressive spell from him where he actually managed to constantly trouble the opposition batters. Mind you, he might be taking the new ball at Edgbaston if India do decide to rest Bumrah for the next match. Krishna seemed to be in hangover of his recent IPL exploits where he finished the highest wicket-taker at Headingley. He kept pitching the ball short rather than sticking to one length even after observing the master at work from the same end he majorly operated on ending up giving more than 6 an over in both innings. To have a economy of 5.07 after four Tests in conditions made for his tall, skiddy nature of fast bowling beckons the question to the selectors over him being the choice of third seamer in this Test.

Mohammad Siraj has been playing non-stop Test cricket for India. He has featured in 22 of the last 25 Test matches for India. His last fifer for India was in Jan 2024 against South Africa. He averages more than 42 with the new ball since the start of 2023. There can be made a case of him being unlucky not to get a wicket in some decent bowling spells like the one in on the start of Day 5 at Headingley. Although looking at his recent performances, it looks like Siraj is lucky to hold on to his place because India does not have experienced fast bowlers other than Bumrah and the injured Mohammad Shami, whose red-ball future is in doubt itself. The pace bowling all-rounder Shardul Thakur looked like a nervous net bowler and flashy with the bat in a T20 hangover. And this garners even more questions as to how is this line-up going to pick up 20 wickets consistently overseas? 

Not that they are great position to do the same at home after the recent retirement of the stalwart R Ashwin. His long term partner Ravindra Jadeja was expected to play a key role on Day 5 because of the rough outside the left handers offside. What actually transpired was a Ben Duckett switch-hit masterclass against the left arm spin of Jadeja leaving him clueless on where to bowl. Yes, this antique approach by English batters has taken many good bowlers by surprise and absolutely smashed them brutally but you would think that a player with an experience of 80 Tests with 320+ wickets would have a Plan B, C or D to counter the reverse stance cricket played by Duckett and Stokes. Especially after hours of looking at the footage and actually getting a taste of the same in home conditions, even if you aren't able to pick wickets, controlling runs(which he does regularly) could also be an option? Jadeja ended up with disappointing figured of 1-104 on a Day 5 pitch tailor made for spin bowling.

Ben Duckett's masterclass on the last day was so fulfilling to watch for any cricket fan. His sixth century was filled with some white-ball shots that has been a consistent image in this Bazball era from each member of the side. But there was something different by both these openers. Zak Crawley, who hasn't enjoyed the best of times in the last couple of years along with his opening partner decided to put on a sort of anti-Bazball display in the first session against some testing bowling. The whole wicketless session laid the foundation of the win which enabled Duckett to finally unleash his array of shots totally dominating the Indian bowling leaving them low on morale. The confidence which each member of this team showed in this run-chase was polar opposite of what the Indian team displayed on the field in the fourth innings.

There has been calls of including Kuldeep Yadav into the side on what is expected to be a similar Edgbaston pitch. His ability to vary the pace and use his variety will be termed as more of a threat than any other Indian bowler except Bumrah displayed in the last match. On paper things might look favorable for Kuldeep but a lot of what will happen on the field depends on his execution. Mind you he hasn't donned the Indian whites in the last eight games. Will he get a look-in? We'll know more tomorrow. And what about Bumrah? Will he play or not? Let's wait and watch.

England decided to recall the quick Jofra Archer who played his first red-ball game after four years for Sussex in the last County Championship round but he will not be part of the playing XI since England has decided to go unchanged. Stokes will be making sure they don't give India a chance to get back into the series after witnessing morale-shattering defeat while the Indian team has got a good time to rest and re-group. They will be looking to put on a improved bowling performance and level the series going into a short turnaround Lord's.

References : ESPNCricinfo, Statsguru by ESPNCricinfo, Cricmetric