England v India:
1st Test, Day 2
Let the Spin
Begin!
November 10th 2016
There is
some frantic spin going on in India, but not from the Indian attack. How is it
that when some deliveries were turning prodigiously on the second day that England
scored over 500 when India bowled just three balls short of 100 overs of spin
with the best bowler in the world among their attack? How could India miss at
least six chances in the field? How could it been that five of England’s
wickets were gifted to the bowlers rather than earned? Who is the imposter who
has turned up claiming to be Ravi Ashwin? Many fans seem to have come to the
premature conclusion that the pitch is a road and are wondering why they should
offer such a pitch when England give them spiteful minefields to play on.
England will
undoubtedly encounter worse pitches during this tour but, as an exercise in
confidence-building, it has been wonderful therapy. We do not know if England
have resolved their issues with quality spin because they faced very little of
it. However, you can argue that India were not given the chance to bowl well. When
England bowled, Moeen Ali immediately obtained more turn than Ravi Ashwin and
Adil Rashid showed why England persist with him by bowling a magical googly
that missed everything.
How good the
pitch is, is open to question. There is some grass. There are some big cracks.
The odd ball is turning disconcertingly. And the odd ball has produced an
alarming puff of dust. It all suggests that if the bowler puts the ball in the
correct place and is patient, batting may not look so easy by the fourth day.
It is not hard to see how, if England bowl well, take their chances and get a
bit of the rub of the green, they could roll India over for around 300.
For England
to win, Alistair Cook is going to have to show confidence in his bowlers. When
Adil Rashid plays ODIs under Eoin Morgan, Morgan knows that he will usually get
an economical spell plus a couple of wickets. In contrast, Alistair Cook’s
theory that a bowler should be taken off after conceding a boundary does
nothing for the bowler’s confidence. The result is that the Adil Rashid of ODIs
is a go-to bowler who turns matches and the Adil Rashid of Tests is a go-away
bowler (as in “go away, I don’t trust you with the ball”). When things start to
go Adil Rashid’s way, as they did that afternoon in the UAE, he is capable of
bowling a spell that turns a match.
England’s
advantage is that they have six bowlers of very different styles and talents to
turn to. Stokes is an aggresive reverse swing specialist, while Woakes
specialises in seam and normal swing and Broad can get some sharp lift at
around 90mph. The three spinners are three different styles, with Moeen as the
typical English off-spinner, Zafar Ansari as a slow left armer and Adil Rashid
able to turn his leg spin both ways: it gives Alistair Cook options and, if he
gets stuck, an over or two of Joe Root can sometimes produce a wicket from
nowhere. If there is something in the pitch, one of the bowlers should be able
to find it.
Of course,
cricket is not an exact science. England may turn up and bowl like drains.
India may bat like a million dollars and just be too good. It may be 400-3 at
the Close tomorrow with India looking to get a lead and put England under
pressure on the last day, but you feel that if a wicket falls early, India
could be dismissed for around 300. One thing that should encourage England is
that, so far, Moeen Ali and Zafar Ansari have combined for figures of 9-2-9-0;
apart from one loose ball from Adil Rashid, the Indian openers have had few
scoring opportunities.
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