by When England went to India I thought Jack Leach was their most important bowler; two matches later – and he only played in the first Test – he was dropped from the series and I’m not sure if he will have much of an impact. This is due to the performance of England’s young spinners, the reverse drive of Jasprit Bumrah and the realization that seam bowling may be more important than anyone expected.
With his experience, Leach was the only English spinner who I thought could control his bowling in the heat of the battle, when the pressure was on, so he would probably be crucial to his chances Taking 20 wickets. In home conditions, England use their fast-medium bowlers to give them control but in India it’s spin and they often struggle because they don’t have enough bowlers. But in the first two Tests Ben Stokes was exceptional in his handling of his young spinners, his bowling attack and his fielding. Leach’s absence now has a very different feel.
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To succeed in Test cricket you have to believe that you are out there and that your game is good enough. There is no doubt. Sometimes, young players are very naive and go out and play without any expectations of themselves, but they can overthink it and get a little overwhelmed.
Temperament is an important attribute that England look for when assessing players – it’s not just about their playing qualities. England’s management of their young players has been outstanding over the last few years and Tom Hartley, Shoaib Bashir and Rehan Ahmed have come into the team, they have played well and their belief will be strong.
I was surprised by the significance of the reverse swing on the set. It reminds me of the summer of 1992, when Waqar Younis and Wasim Akram were so brilliant in England. As a middle-order batsman you often come in when the ball has lost its luster and it’s usually hard work for the seamers, but in that series after 40 overs you knew the ball would start swinging back suddenly and you would be in trouble.
Correcting your angles against inswing is difficult: I remember working with Joe Root on how to deal with Bumrah and the challenge was knowing where his off stump is. Because of the wide angle of the delivery you can pull into play balls you should leave, but with that in mind you can also leave the ones you shouldn’t. Someone like Zak Crawley, who bats on the stumps, might see the inswinger as a ball he can score, but his challenge is that his bat is coming across the ball to hit it. play on the sideline and the margin for error is small. .
Pace is the key here: say Ollie Robinson might be able to swing the ball too, but it gives the batsmen a bit more time to adjust to it. However, Bumrah’s effect, Jimmy Anderson’s performance in the second Test and the success of the young spinners mean England will be optimistic.
They will certainly be at ease, having been in Abu Dhabi since the end of the second Test. A few decades ago, they would have stayed in India and squeezed in a few first-class matches, but the situation they found themselves in at the end of their tour of India in 1992-93 to avoid, when they were. I played 16 games and Phil Tufnell said: “I’ve done the elephants and I’ve done the poverty, it’s time to go home.”
It’s a different game now, but I wonder if England’s young spinners could improve their game more by playing games in India rather than resting in the UAE. It would have the added benefit of avoiding the visa problem that must be bothering Rehan. On the other hand, older players like Stokes, Root and Jonny Bairstow have to welcome the break, they will have enough experience to know what they are doing and how they need to prepare.
Related: India lose another key man like KL Rahul for the crucial third Test against England
I often enjoyed those first-class tour matches and felt they were a good opportunity to learn under unfamiliar conditions, but there is no perfect answer: Bairstow, a 34-year-old batsman who has played 97 Tests and 212 first-class matches, demanding a completely different build from Bashir, a 20-year-old spinner who has played one Test and seven first-class matches. For better or worse, England has chosen to take the stress out of Abu Dhabi’s beaches, golf courses and luxury hotels.
In any case and after a long pause I am not sure if either side has an advantage. England’s attitude seems to be that they are poor people and that they are going to go out and have a go. As long as they stay true to themselves no matter what, that seems like a good way to keep the pressure off. As they see it, India have everything to lose, given their impressive home record and demanding fans.
They have already lost Virat Kohli, who is now out of the series. Although they proved in the second Test that they can win without him it is a huge blow: Kohli is one of the best players of his generation, but more than that he drives his team forward, never accepting second place . He is excellent at communicating with the crowd, winding them up, getting them going, and if the opposition player is doing well he is not afraid to get involved with the verbs to disrupt his effort.
He is a titan of the modern game, a box office to watch and any team would be weaker without him.
