A lot of water has flown under the bridge since India decided to postpone the last and final Test in England last year due to the Covid scare. Captains of both the teams have changed with a struggling Joe Root making way for a revitalized Ben Stokes and a cornered Virat Kohli throwing in the towel early this year for an eager Rohit Sharma to take over the mantle of Test captaincy. Even the coaches of both the teams have parted ways: Rahul Dravid has taken over coaching responsibilities from Ravi Shastri in all the formats and Brendon McCullum has replaced Chris Silverwood in the longest format after the Ashes debacle (4-0) late last year.
So, as India lock horns with England at Edgbaston on July 1 to complete an unfinished Test series of last year the former looks quite vulnerable and dishevelled and the latter totally rejuvenated after the recent Test triumphs. Let’s find out why India seem like the proverbial lambs against the England team.
Injury And Batting Woes Of Team India
With Rohit turning Covid positive a few days before the match and Rahul missing the entire series due to an injury the Indian batting looks in total disarray. It would be a miracle if Rohit recovers in time to take part in the final Test and his likely replacement, Mayank Agarwal, hardly ooze any confidence. To exacerbate the matter, Virat has been struggling with the bat for a while and Cheteshwar Pujara has a huge burden on his shoulders in the absence of able Test allies like KL Rahul, Rohit etc.
On the other hand, England do not have such serious issues with their batting as their batters, including Joe Root, Johny Bairstow and Ben Stokes, are on a far better footing than their Indian counterparts. The only problem for England is regarding their openers who have failed to provide solid starts to the team. However, Bairstow’s recent heroics and Root’s stubborn stay at the crease have more than made up for the lack of runs from the openers. So, Rahul Dravid has plenty of problems to deal with as the Test begins tomorrow whereas McCullum would be pretty much relaxed, considering the way his team blanked Kiwis 3-0 recently.
Even On The Bowling Front English Have An Edge
Despite missing Jofra Archer of late, English bowling has looked better than that of India. Both James Anderson and Stuart Broad are back in the team following a brief spell of indifference on the part of selectors and they both complimented the efforts of each other to keep Kiwi batters under a tight leash recently. England’s bowling led by the veteran bowlers ensured that New Zealand never batted them out of the just-concluded series.
On the other hand, Indian bowlers, despite showing a lot of sting and firepower for the past few years, will be under a lot of pressure against the resurgent English batters. Also, the Indian bowlers’ failure to defend decent totals against South Africans earlier this year in the fourth innings of the two-Test matches is not a good omen considering the fact England pulled off some tricky chases against Kiwis recently. Also, it has been a while since India played the longest format, they last played a Test match in March against Sri Lanka this year. That is indeed a long gap.
Edgbaston And India Don’t Enjoy Each Other’s Company
The final Test is scheduled to be held in Edgbaston, where India have had a very poor record over the years. In the last seven Tests between the two teams, England have always had a firm grip over the Indians as they beat the visitors six times and drew one game. The last time when the two teams met in 2018 at the same venue, England trounced India by 31 runs despite a fighting century (149) and a half-century (51) by Virat in both the innings of the Test match. Prior to 2018, India lost by an innings and 242 runs in 2011, a huge embarrassment for the much-fancied team back then. However, India have conquered some new bastions recently. Most notably, Brisbane in Australia, 2021, so past records do not matter. However, considering the forms of some of the batters and the bowling somewhat losing its sheen of late, breaching a new fortress like Edgbaston comes across as wishful thinking, at the moment.
