India captain turned down the suggestions of including an extra batter in the team for the third Test after India collapsed in both innings in their innings defeat agsint England.
India suffered a heavy defeat in the third Test of the ongoing series against England as they lost by an innings and 76 runs. Joe Root’s men made a spectacular comeback after the Lord’s debacle to run through India’s batting and level the series 1-1.
The questions are being raised over India’s batting ability, and the suggestions of playing an extra batter have been thrown around. However, the Indian skippe dismissed the noise, saying he does not believe in the balance.
“I don’t believe in that balance (pick an extra batter). I have never believed in that balance. Either you can try and save [yourself] from a defeat and try and win the game and we have drawn games in the past with similar number of batters,”
said Virat Kohli after the match.
In the second match at Lord’s, India’s aggressive approach paid dividends when they skittled out England inside two sessions on the fifth day on the back of their pacers’ relentless bowling to claim a memorable victory.
In the third Test, however, the visitors were bowled out for 78 in the first innings, followed by a massive total of 432 by England as bowlers were largely ineffective.
With a humongous task ahead, Indian top 4 batted well, including fifties from Rohit Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara and Kohli himself. Kohli’s men had an excellent third day, ending the day on 215/2.
But things went chaotic on the fourth day as India lost eight wickets for 63 runs inside a session. Despite two collapses in the same match, Kohli hinted that they will continue with a similar combination.
“So if your top 6-7 don’t do the job, that extra guy is not a guarantee for bailing you out every time. You have to take responsibility and pride for doing the job for the team.
If you don’t have the ability or resources to take 20 wickets going into a Test match then you are already playing for two results and that is not how we play,”
Kohli added.
While Kohli insisted on playing four pacers, several former cricketers have raised questions over India’s strategy, including Sunil Gavaskar, who believes the Indian management should rethink their playing XI combination.
Another former cricketer and current TV broadcaster, Sanjay Manjrekar, has been vocal about the team balance since the beginning of the series.
Manjrekar had earlier suggested that Rishabh Pant would be more effective at no. 7 batting with the tail, and India should bring Hanuma Vihari in, who has done well in England and batted for almost three hours in his last Test to save the Test at Sydney.
He had also stated that Ravichandran Ashwin should play in the team as a spinner over Ravindra Jadeja and that Ashwin has been treated unfairly.
Manjrekar has maintained his stance, speaking on the post-match show yesterday said,
“Get in an extra batter, play four bowlers with one specialist spinner at eight.”
There are a few headaches for the Indian team management though. Jadeja has looked one of the most assured batters against movement across both teams, and dropping him would not be wise. They’re also unlikely to drop their vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane, who hasn’t looked good apart from one innings.
The pace bowler Ishant Sharma hasn’t looked at his full fitness in the two Tests he has played, and India might also need to manage the workload of Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami. With the series poised well at 1-1, it will be interesting to see how they approach the fourth Test at Kennington Oval, starting September 2.
