India move, "One Step Closer", to the final of WTC!

India move, "One Step Closer", to the final of WTC!

After defeating England by 10 wickets in the newly built world's largest Cricket ground, Shri Narinder Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad. India has increased its chances to qualify for the final of the World Test Championship. The championships final will be played in Lords, London, later this year in June-2021.

The Pink Ball Test Match could not live up to the expectations the spectators or the fans around the world might have with it, hence after remaining the talk of the town for many days it did end up only in less than two days, where 21 out of 30 wickets fell to the spinners that too on deliveries coming straight after pitching from both sides.

It was a good toss to lose for Team India, as the hosts bowled out the visitors for just 112 and 81 runs in both innings respectively. The English Batsmens' batting technique is not looked to the Test standard once again, where they seemed struggling to tackle the world-class spinners. None of the English Batsman looked comfortable while batting in the middle against the quality bowling of Axar and Ashwin both, hence was not able to pick the line and the length of the Indian spinners.

England's team selection of the match is also gone horribly wrong, as they have picked only one spinner in their side in the form of Jack Leach, which left them with at least one spinner less attack on the pitch that was assisting the spinners from the first season itself. If Moeen Ali would have not rested or granted the leave they could have a more potent bowling unit at their disposal for sure, unfortunately, but, that mistake cost them extremely badly. Had England, have played with the two spinners might have given them a different result. The reason behind the collapse after the collapse lies in their back-home batting conditions, where they are used to play on the seaming and swinging pitches. But, when you play on the turning tracks on the Indian Subcontinent pitches. It does require a different batting technique to survive and to score runs, against the quality spin bowlers like Ashwin, Jadeja, or Axar.

 Thanks to Axar Patel, the local boy who took five-fors in both the innings with a total of 11 wickets in the match, in his only second appearance for his country, and was equally well supported by another spin legend Ravichandran Ashwin from the other end of the pitch, who also took seven wickets for his side in the match and went on to create the history of second fastest to 400 wickets in the Test Cricket. 

On the batting front, Rohit Sharma was the only Indian batsman who could score a half-century, and on the back of his batting, India hardly manages to take 33 runs crucial lead from England. 

The visitors do have their moments in both the matches in Chennai and Ahmedabad. Unfortunately could not cash those critical opportunities for the betterment of their side. On the other hand, the home team did catch the match-turning moment with both hands that turned the match in their favor. This is why this Indian Team is special as they could push you out of the match after being behind in the match, anytime.

Written By:

Tarun Kumar Lakhanpal

Feb 27, 2021