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The last three tests out of five was possibly India’s sternest of the series. Anderson and Stuart Broad bowling much better than they did in the first two.
Yet you cannot overlook how India have not learned from their mistakes. And a side that refuses to correct its mistakes cannot hope to win a five-Test series. ODIs, yes. Short Test series, maybe. Not five Tests that will find you out at some point. And then it will keep exposing you ruthlessly. India have had no response to it. This is the last Test of the series, and India have not yet put their best XI on the field.
Just to make matters worst, seeing India two most talented young middle order batsmen in world cricket, Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli, have got worse over the series; they are fighting the demons in their heads and their techniques, but they are getting out in the same manner.
Pujara’s back foot has not moved across. He reminds me of Kirk Edwards disastrous tour of England two years ago. He has been either lbw or bowled.
Kohli has been chasing balls well outside off, It does not help that he has got out LBW leaving twice; Kohli and Pujara’s continuous, and in some ways similar. It does not help that the schedule has not allowed them to work on their game.
Their runs in the past helped gloss over the small things, but they, too, are being exposed now. Dhoni, who has shown fortitude with the bat and has come out of his comfort zone there.
So in the end you get a day that is the perfect storm. The pitch seams, the overheads swing the ball, India loss the toss, Stuart Broad and James Anderson get it right for the best part of the day.
Pujara is out there batting in the first over, Kohli gets a slightly tough lbw call, Root pulls off a blinder to send M Vijay back, and the brave Dhoni is stranded.
Finally, I think India Test Cricket is sliding all because the board gives so much attention to the IPL T20, players are being paid very handsomely so as a result, little attention is being placed on test especially on this India series.
Another issue I see with the Indians is they hardly play the red ball, instead they need to provide bouncy, pacey with swing movements but instead they provide graveyard pitches for their batsmen and spinners dominate test cricket in India.
As a result, when they travel abroad they are being bombarded with bouncy and pacey wickets.
Yet there is little sympathy for them. For this was a side that had turned up to take its last beatings. There are no knockouts, in five-Test series, or that series in England would have been called off at Old Trafford.
Dominique R Stowe
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