Mumbai: After scoring 400 runs in the first innings of the Mumbai Test, England had a great chance ahead of them to come back into the series, but it was India once again which played extremely well under both scoreboard pressure and deteriorating batting conditions. By the time India was finally all out in its first innings it was a massive mountain for England to climb which they tried but couldn’t and on 5th Day morning didn’t even put up a fight.
Let’s have a look at individual hits and flops from the Mumbai Test.
England
Flops
Moeen Ali
On a track like the one at Wankhede with extreme turn and bounce for spinners, in the team as a frontline spinner and only one other spinner in the team, Moeen Ali failed to create the kind of pressure that Graeme Swann and Monty Panesar once created on the Indian batsmen. Moeen Ali picked up 2 wickets in the 53 overs that he bowled conceding a 174 runs. With the bat Moeen scored 50 and 0 in the two innings, respectively. England would definitely need more contributions from their star all-rounder.
Alastair Cook
England miss the Cook of 2012. Although an average of just under 40 isn’t that bad at all but Captain Cook is only being judged from his own standards. If Alaistar Cook can somehow manage to get those big hundreds and long innings under pressure that we know him for, England might just covert those 400 into 450-500 which is extremely important given that English spinners haven’t been able to exert the same amount of pressure.
Hits
Keaton Jennings
The left-handed opener had a dream debut innings when he scored a century and helped England go off to a good start in the Mumbai Test. Jennings played every possible shot in the game and brought up his century with a reverse sweep for four which tells you a lot about the man. With Jennings and Cook opening and H Hameed coming in at No. 3 once he gets fit, England might get to solve their top order problems once and for all. Jennings departed for a golden duck in the second innings, if only he could have spent some time, one or two partnerships and the game could have at least gone in the second Indian innings.
Joe Root, Jos Buttler
Jos Buttler played a significant part in helping England score 400 in the first innings and scored runs along with the tail to ensure England reach that mark before departing as the last man in an attempt to score some quick-fire bonus runs. Buttler on 5thday morning could only see himself running out of partners from the other end when R Aswhin wrapped up the tail in style. Jos Buttler’s 76 in the first innings was an innings of great significance hadn’t it been for him England could well have been out for 350.
Joe Root showed the other English batsmen how to play on a rank turner. The intent should be to score runs and not block deliveries. Joe Root almost single handedly closed the deficit down, but got out when the team needed him to continue. Although Joe Root played well, Joe Root needs to score more runs knowing his responsibility in the team.
India
Flops
Karun Nair
Karun Nair hasn’t had a great outing so far. Nair dropped Jennings’ catch at gully who then went on to score a ton. Nair also couldn’t score runs with the bat and was involved in India’s middle order collapse. Better is expected from him if he dreams of retaining his place in the national team, once Ajinkya Rahane and Rohit Sharma get fit it would be interesting to see who gets what roles in the team.
KL Rahul
KLRahul is yet to make a mark after his comeback. We all know what Rahul can do and have seen him leaving the bowlers clueless when he is in full flow, but Rahul isn’t in his best of form and needs to fins his touch and provide a stable opening pair along with M Vijay.
Hits
Murali Vijay, Virat Kohli
M Vijay set the tune for India’s success after he scored a phenomenal 100 opening the batting for India. Vijay along with Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli made sure that India does not trail behind England’s first innings total of 400 runs. But it was Kohli who not only completed the trial but instead took a massive lead of over 200 runs, making the highest score by an Indian Captain, his third double century in a year. Kohli and Vijay have had many wonderful patnerships over the years a key component of world’s best test teams.
R Ashwin
Ashwin is our man. R Ashwin pickes up another 10 for in the match and is only one behind the legendary spinner Anil Kumble’s tally of 8. R Ashwin is for no reason world’s no. 1 Test bowler at the moment and the duo Jadeja-Ashwin one of the best in the world and that too in India. Ashwin took 12 out of the 20 wickets India picked, that tells the impact that R Ashwin has on the match and his contributions in India’s win.