The talk on the fourth day of the second Test at Birmingham was whether England would curb their attacking ‘Bazballism’ and think about playing for a draw. A day later, former captain Mike Atherton has noted that that philosophical musing was wrong as England have shown that they aren’t good enough to draw even on the flattest pitch.
“In the end, the philosophical dilemma and chin-stroking mattered not a jot. It was not so much a question of whether this England team, so disdainful of the concept of the draw, would contemplate playing for it but whether they were good enough to do so.”
Atherton wrote how England did get the lifeline of time courtesy Shubman Gill’s decision to bat a touch too long in the second innings before declaring and by the rain on the final day that shaved off further 10 overs.
“On a still true pitch, it was so dispiriting that England did not make a better fist of surviving what was essentially a day’s worth of cricket. Indeed, on one of the flattest pitches seen in this country in recent years, they lasted only 157 overs across both innings, collecting seven ducks in all, four of them for the top six.”
For his part, another former England captain Nasser Hussain chose to contrast the performances of the two bowling attacks, and wrote why he felt the Edgbaston pitch suited India more.
“Even though it was still pretty dead on day five, the Indian seamers were getting the ball to move about off the cracks and dryness in the surface. Some of that was down to the toss. A pitch naturally dries out over the course of a game and is therefore at its driest at the end of the match. India’s bowlers were brought up having to cope with those conditions.
“I don’t think it was the pitch England wanted. It was much more akin to what Indian players are used to. England’s bowlers were hitting the deck hard but a lot of pace was being taken off the ball, whereas India thrived with their skiddier trajectories. They needed the kind of mode of attack that Akash Deep and Mohammed Siraj provided, where kissing the surface got more out of it.”
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Hussain also wrote about the Bumrah decision. “There will be some people nodding contentedly in the away dressing room, saying ‘we got it right’ by leaving out their attacking spearhead Jasprit Bumrah in Birmingham. He will now head to London fresh after a fortnight’s rest.”
