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England scripted history in Hyderabad on Sunday, managing to seal a sensational 28-run victory against India on Day 4 of their first Test match. It was sensational because after the first innings, it looked like it was India, who would easily win the match. Also, England received a lot of criticism for their bowling approach, and in particular dropping James Anderson.
But Ollie Pope had other plans and smacked a sensational 196 to take his side to 420 in the second innings, setting a target of 231 runs. Despite Pope’s gritty ton, it was still India’s match to win. In came Tom Hartley, who was making his Test debut. Hartley ended up bagging a stunning seven-wicket haul which saw the home side pack up for 202.
Hartley’s dismissals accounted for captain Rohit Sharma (39), Yashasvi Jaiswal (15), Shubman Gill (0), Axar Patel (17), Srikar Bharat (28), R Ashwin (28) and Mohammed Siraj (12). Unlike the first innings, India failed to get a foothold while batting. Shubman Gill departed for a duck, Ravindra Jadeja (2), Jasprit Bumrah (28*) got single digit scores. Meanwhile, Yashasvi Jaiswal (15), Axar Patel (17), Shreyas Iyer (13) failed to cross 20.
Analysing India’s defeat, which was also their first home loss in Tests after having a lead of over 100 runs, Dinesh Karthik pointed out some key issues within the batting unit.
When asked if India had a fear of failure while batting, Karthik told Cricbuzz, “I think it is normal to have those feelings. You are in India, playing a home series. You are chasing down a total, they have literally woken up from the dead and they are asking tough questions of you. The pitch has become tougher. So as a batter, it can be real hard work.”
“A big example for me the last two weeks has been KS Bharat closely when he is batting, he got a couple of brilliant knocks, a 100 or 65. I know the way he starts and the way he plays, it is polarising different to what he is doing in Test cricket, the way he is starting. I understand that, I have been through that, I empathise with that but somewhere you have to get past that for you to achieve something special.”
Karthik went on to ask Rohit Sharma to take a leaf out of his World Cup campaign notebook. “I think a lot of the times, the pressure of being a top-order batsman, yes, the bowlers are bowling well, sometimes not knowing what shots to take on. I completely get that but if the Indian team wants to cross those big moments at different points of time and that is where I thought the World Cup was special,” he said.
“Rohit led from the front with his shot-making and Shreyas Iyer followed through a lot of the times and that eased the pressure of a lot of other batters around. That was what was missing, even from Shreyas Iyer’s batting today. The courage to play the big shot. He is someone who can take on the off-spinner blindfolded and hit boundaries. But you can see this is what pressure and lack of runs, to an extent confidence and playing for your place in the side. All of this put together, I get what each Indian top-order batsman is going through, it is hard work, but they have to cross that,” he further added.
The visitors lead 1-0 in their ongoing five-match series, with the second Test match scheduled to begin on February 2, in Visakhapatnam.
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