Time for India to change playbook?

New Indian Express

6 hours ago

CHENNAI: As Jamie Smith sent Ravindra Jadeja into the Headingley stands to take England home — with Jasprit Bumrah watching from the dressing room — in the first Test against India, a familiar feeling lingered among the visitors. For the fourth time (second time in England) in the last three and a half years, the Indian bowlers fell flat in the fourth innings, allowing the opponents to chase a total which they felt was enough.
It had happened twice in South Africa and once in Edgbaston in the same year. On Tuesday, it was Ben Duckett and Joe Root who led the way against a Bumrah-led bowling attack. What was more worrisome was that long before the chase concluded in the last session of the match, the fate of the game was sealed. The moment had passed when Bumrah was not able to provide the early breakthrough, India's hopes, slowly, but steadily, slipped away.
However, there is one common trend that has been prevalent since Gautam Gambhir took over. His consistent preference for batting depth over playing five frontline bowlers to make up for the lack of runs from the top-order.
While it didn't matter in India, from the moment they arrived in Australia, Gambhir has sacrificed an extra frontline bowler to add security to a somewhat fragile batting unit.
Across five Tests Down Under, the visitors played a batting all-rounder in Nitish Reddy as their fifth bowler. Even if Reddy struggled to do what was asked of him in the bowling department — no fault of his — India persisted with him. India's fifth bowler, Reddy, delivered only eight percent of the overall number of overs bowled in the first three Tests. Going into the Boxing Day Test, with the series 1-1, India had a chance to press for 20 wickets and take the lead. Instead, they fielded three all-rounders in Ravindra Jadeja, Reddy and Washington Sundar. Both Reddy and Washington batted well, keeping the game alive, their lack of bite with the ball cost the visitors as they sent down only 13 per cent of all the balls. In Sydney, on what was a greenish surface, India went with the same combination only to be scorched again.