'Discipline? Defence? All went out of window': English media rant after India's 'miracle'; Aussies drop Ashes truth bomb
England, at one point, were cruising towards the 374-run target, riding on centuries from Harry Brook and Joe Root. Their 195-run stand for the fourth wicket took them to 301 for three. But their hopes took a major hit on the fourth afternoon when India struck thrice around the Tea break, removing three batters for just 26 runs.
On the final morning, England began positively, hitting back-to-back boundaries with just 35 runs needed. But Mohammed Siraj turned the tide, striking twice in his first two overs before cleaning up the final wicket to complete his five-wicket haul. England fell just six runs short—suffering their narrowest defeat on home soil in 123 years.
The Telegraph article titled 'Chris Woakes' remarkable act of bravery will be remembered forever' questioned England's approach against the Indian seamers, strongly criticising Jacob Bethell and Jamie Smith. It argued that tail-ender Gus Atkinson was the only batter with a clear plan, while the rest 'did exactly what India's seamers wanted them to do—either by throwing the bat at anything and everything, or poking their bats at anything and everything.'
The piece read: 'Discipline? Defence? It all went out of the window in the nerves of the occasion. The disease had actually started on the fourth evening when Joe Root played a shot—or dab—which he regretted the moment he had tried it. He had lost the strike as Jacob Bethell struggled to come to terms with a red ball, and after the euphoria of his 39th Test hundred, Root tried something that was unworthy of his reputation. Bethell was given scant chance by England's selectors.'
The Guardian, on the other hand, in its piece 'Are you not wowed? Bazball, India and a one-armed man deliver drama and beauty', couldn't stop gushing about India's heroism on the final morning and Siraj's fire. It wrote: 'England needed 35 to win and India three and a half wickets to level the series. The players came out to a huge rolling wave of applause, India's fielders breaking from their huddle to sprint in unison, impossibly heroic already—a group who have given us everything over the past two months. And this was a day for Mohammed 'the Demon' Siraj, who really is the most lovable maniac in sport, and who bowled like a god here to win this game.'
England ready for Ashes?
Since the summer of 2022, when the Bazball era began in England, the Stokes-led side has played 13 Test series and won eight of them. While that tally suggests success for the McCullum-Stokes partnership, the Bazball philosophy has faltered in crucial moments—a drawn Ashes at home in 2023, a 1-4 defeat in India in 2024, and now a 2-2 draw at home against an Indian side that recently saw the retirements of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and R Ashwin. The most recent result has prompted many—especially the Australian media—to deliver a scathing Ashes verdict.
"Toppling India would have given England a timely boost of confidence ahead of the upcoming Ashes tour, but the lingering Bazball sceptics would grow in volume if Brendon McCullum's troops failed to win another marquee series," a Fox Sports article titled 'Test miracle for the ages as Poms stunned at the death despite one-arm sacrifice' read. "Regardless, failure to defeat an undermanned Indian team — who are without retired superstars Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Ravichandran Ashwin — is a hammer blow for England's Bazballers."
The Sydney Morning Herald noted that England were expected to turn a corner in this series, shifting from crowd-pleasers to serious contenders. But their recurring struggles—especially the inability to manage key fast bowlers—highlighted deeper problems that Bazball alone couldn't fix.
The article titled 'The hard truths that show England will struggle to win the Ashes' read: "It is worth remembering that this was the series in which England were meant to have evolved from entertainers to winners.
They had become more pragmatic in tactics, more inclined to sledge opponents on the field, and more susceptible to the petulance that followed India's series-saving rearguard in Manchester. Putting on a show was no longer enough.
All those changes were, however, largely cosmetic next to a couple of hard cricket truths. First, winning big series generally requires keeping your best fast bowlers fit, something England have consistently failed to do over many years, not just during the Bazball era that began in 2022."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
&w=3840&q=100)
First Post
6 minutes ago
- First Post
Trouble for Bumrah? Gambhir, BCCI reportedly planning to crack down on 'culture of picking and choosing games'
Despite concerns over his fitness and workload following his back injury in January, Jasprit Bumrah's absence in two matches in the high-voltage Test series against England has reportedly rubbed head coach Gautam Gambhir and the BCCI the wrong way. read more India pacer Jasprit Bumrah and head coach Gautam Gambhir at a training session ahead of the fifth Test against England at The Oval. AP Amid the euphoria over Team India's epic six-run victory at The Oval that helped them level the five-Test series against England 2-2, head coach Gautam Gambhir and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) are quietly working on the road ahead. They are also reportedly planning to continue their crackdown against superstar culture within the team, something that Gambhir has been particularly vocal against over the years. With the BCCI having already taken action against certain individuals traveling privately and limiting the amount of time family members can spend with a player on a tour, Gambhir as well as the BCCI have set their sights on another aspect of the perceived superstar culture – picking and choosing matches in the name of workload management. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD 'There have been discussions and the message will be sent across to the centrally-contracted players, especially those who are all format regulars that this culture of picking and choosing games won't be entertained in near future,' a senior BCCI official privy to current happenings told news agency PTI on conditions of anonymity. 'It doesn't mean that workload management will be thrown out of the window but a more objective approach is expected in near future. Obviously, fast bowlers' workload needs to be managed but it can't be accepted that in the name of workload management, people will miss crucial matches.' Spotlight on Bumrah after workload drama in England? The reported development isn't great news for Bumrah, who looked somewhat off-colour by his own lofty standards even as he finished the fourth-highest wicket-taker with 14 wickets in three matches, including two five-fors. That the pace spearhead sat out of two matches – the second Test at Edgbaston as well as the series finale at The Oval – apparently has not gone down too well with the head coach as well as the board. This despite the fact that it was excessive workload during the two-and-a-half month tour of Australia, where he finished as the leading wicket-taker by a fair distance, that resulted in a back injury and sidelined him for nearly four months. Given his stature as the best bowler across formats in the current generation, the Indian team had been advised to be careful with his workload. Also Read | Gavaskar compares workload debate to jawans at border, drops ODI captaincy hint However, the fact that pace colleague Mohammed Siraj played all five Tests this summer without experiencing a drop in intensity at any given point and finished as the leading wicket-taker (23) has further led to questions over Bumrah and concerns over his workload. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Critics also cited examples of Indian wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant and England captain Ben Stokes playing despite nursing injuries. Additionally, what has also worked against Bumrah in this series is the fact that he did not have any role to play in either of India's victories. While the Shubman Gill-led visitors won both games that the 31-year-old missed, they lost two and drew one in the games that he played, leading to a perception that the team isn't as dependent on him anymore.
Indian Express
36 minutes ago
- Indian Express
The age of Shubhman Gill is here
Just like Sachin Tendulkar securing his first Test hundred in Old Trafford 25 years ago to herald his arrival at the threshold of greatness; just like Sourav Ganguly furiously waving his shirt from the Lord's balcony in 2002 after a cliff-hanger of a final; or, more momentously, like Kapil Dev's 'devils' raising the World Cup trophy to change the destiny of Indian cricket 42 years ago, a new age in Indian cricket dawned under a brooding English sky. Even though it's a hollow claim to say that the result would taste as sweet as a triumph, the Test series that India drew could become a reference point, a metaphor of India's reemergence, a precursor to better moments, even a watershed event in the country's cricketing history. The team is not flawless, but it has forged an identity, shown spine and steel, a capacity to bite the bullet and an attitude to never surrender. Doubts lingered when India boarded the flight to Heathrow nearly 50 days ago. Gill's captaincy was untested; the batting was callow, the bowling group had injury concerns and ragged edges. Three stalwarts had recently retired and India had lost seven of its last eight games. But in the course of the English summer, the team cleared most of the doubts. Gill has the instincts, wisdom and poise to lead the side. The leadership responsibility elevated his batting too. Among Indian batsmen, only Sunil Gavaskar has scored more runs than Gill's 754 at an average of 75.4 in a single series. Contributions arrived from the two openers too, KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal, and the effervescent Rishabh Pant, who captured India's resilience by batting with a broken toe in Old Trafford, besides shellacking a pair of hundreds. Sai Sudharsan illustrated the virtues that could make him an ideal successor to Rahul Dravid and Cheteshwar Pujara at one drop. Ravindra Jadeja, at 36, has light left in him; Washington Sundar could fill the R Ashwin-shaped hole. Mohammed Siraj, with his unshakeable grit and unflinching energy, emphasised that there is life beyond Jasprit Bumrah in the seam-bowling department. There is a fiercely combative coach in Gautam Gambhir. In the end, it was a triumph of collective spirit and individual splendour, blending frictionlessly. The portrait, though, is both incomplete and imperfect. But it's how great teams are forged. It may take months or years. It won't be without fumbles and stumbles. India will have to keep its bowlers optimally fit for the big series, develop depth in the fast bowling department, polish some of the promising youngsters such as Sudharsan, Nitish Kumar Reddy and Anshul Kamboj, upskill some others. Gill, too, could be smarter with his bowling choices — which bowler to use, and when — as well as field placements. The journey will be fascinating, and at times frustrating. But there is boundless optimism as Indian cricket enters a new era. The age of Gill is upon us.
Indian Express
36 minutes ago
- Indian Express
Najeeb Jung writes: Division is easy, outrage is cheap – sports teaches a different lesson
The recently concluded Test cricket series in England once again establishes how the religion of cricket, amid political polarisation, religious tensions and regional divides, has consistently demonstrated its extraordinary ability to bring the country together. What a sight to see Mohammed Siraj from one end and Prasidh Krishna from the other, bowling under the captaincy of Shubman Gill — need anyone say how sport binds our country. From the lanes of rural Bihar, Delhi or Lucknow to the elite clubs of Mumbai, cricket transcends India's many fault lines. It is not merely a sport; it is a collective passion, a secular celebration and a national obsession. More importantly, it is one of the few arenas where people of all faiths — Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Sikh, Parsi, and others — not only participate but thrive, often becoming national icons whose achievements are cheered regardless of religion. India's cricket team, past and present, resembles a miniature version of the country itself. Over the decades, it has featured players from every region and many religions. From the early years of Indian cricket, when the likes of Ranjitsinhji and Duleepsinhji — both Hindu princes playing for England — laid the foundation for Indian excellence, the game already carried markers of inclusion. In pre-Partition days, when India was in the throes of communal violence, Nisar Ahmad, Fazal Mahmood, the Nawab of Pataudi Sr and Lala Amarnath formed the backbone of the Indian team. Post-Independence, players like Vinoo Mankad, Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, and Polly Umrigar represented India. In later years, Mohammad Azharuddin captained India for most of the 1990s. His religion was never a point of concern; his wristy elegance and calm demeanour won admiration across the country. Harbhajan Singh, from Punjab, became a fan favourite for his fiery competitiveness. Anil Kumble, Zaheer Khan, and Robin Uthappa, all wore the Indian jersey with distinction and pride. This was a statement of pure secularism in Indian cricket. This same theme is played out in other sports — in football, in hockey or any other sport that we participate in. Syed Rahim coached the Indian football team to glory as Syed Nayeemuddin captained India as did Yusuf Khan and Jarnail Singh. Sikh hockey players brought repeated glory even as Mary Kom and now Nikhat Zareen bring laurels in boxing. Sport is replete with these examples. And yet, at times even sport has not remained entirely untouched by India's religious sensitivities. There have been moments when Muslim or Sikh cricketers have been unfairly criticised or subjected to suspicion. The most prominent example in recent memory was Mohammed Shami's experience after the 2021 T20 World Cup match against Pakistan. India lost the match, and Shami — one of the few Muslim players in the team — was subjected to a torrent of abuse on social media. He was trolled viciously, with many insinuating that his religion had made him less loyal to the national cause. Much to everyone's disgust, Arshdeep Singh was trolled when he dropped a catch while playing against Pakistan. But what followed was equally revealing. Teammates, past legends, and the broader cricket community rallied around Shami and Arshdeep. Virat Kohli, then the Indian captain, issued a powerful statement condemning the abuse, calling out religious bigotry, and defending his teammates in unequivocal terms. His words resonated deeply with millions of Indians who were appalled at the targeting of national players based on religion. But these incidents, while serious and concerning, remain exceptions. The broader narrative is one of inclusion and unity, where sport has often acted as a balm, offering moments of national cohesion in an otherwise divided polity. Sport may unify, but it cannot entirely escape the undertow of communalism that affects all public life in India. However, each such incident also becomes an opportunity — where the public and sporting fraternity reassert the foundational values of secularism and merit on every such occasion. Sport provides moments of pure national joy that cut across caste, class and religious lines. The 1983 World Cup victory in cricket or the 2007 T20 triumph, and the 2011 World Cup win are etched into the consciousness of every Indian. The same feelings ran through the nation when our athletes performed well at the Olympics or the Asian and Commonwealth Games. In those moments, the nation was not Hindu or Muslim or Christian — it was simply Indian. People celebrated in mosques, temples, churches and gurdwaras alike. Flags waved in all neighbourhoods, urban or rural, rich or poor, majority or minority. In those nights of triumph, sport did something no policy or speech could: It made Indians feel like one people. India is at a delicate moment in its democratic journey. Religious polarisation has increased in some quarters, and public discourse is often fraught. But cricket, and sport in general, remains an oasis where pluralism thrives. That players of all faiths continue to be selected, cheered and honoured is a testament to the sport's unique place in the Indian psyche. How pleasing it is when a Neeraj Chopra embraces an Arshad Nadeem and touches the latter's mother's feet in respect. But this harmony cannot be taken for granted. Institutions like the BCCI, football, hockey, wrestling, badminton, shooting federations or cricket academies, schools, and the media must actively work to promote inclusivity. Religious identity should neither be a qualification nor a disqualification. Performance, character and discipline must remain the only criteria. At the same time, fans must be made aware of the dangers of communalising sports. Booing a player based on religion is not just wrong — it is un-Indian. The message must be clear: In blue, we are one. Sports is the only religion in India that does not discriminate. It is played by all, loved by all, and celebrated by all. It brings joy in a way that no temple, mosque, or gurdwara can promise. At a time when division is easy and outrage is cheap, sports reminds us of what we can be — an India where a Muslim fast bowler, a Sikh spinner, a Christian batter, a Hindu captain, a Sikh hockey captain, a girl shooter or wrestler, a Christian or Muslim boxer, or badminton players win together, lose together, and always play together. That is the India we cheer for. That is the India we must strive to protect. The writer is former vice-chancellor, Jamia Millia Islamia, former Lt Governor of Delhi, and currently, chairman, Advanced Study Institute of Asia
