CRICKET – INDIA maintained their aura of invincibility at home after completing a 4-1 series triumph against England yesterday, and the ease of their final win may well subject the visitors’ much-hyped “Bazball” approach to fresh scrutiny.
Rohit Sharma and his men had clinched the series in the fourth Test at Ranchi but did not take their foot off the pedal in Dharamsala, where they routed England inside three days.
The win, which consolidates two-time finalists India’s position at the top of the World Test Championship standings, will have a special place in the memory of Ravichandran Ashwin.
The India off-spinner claimed five second-innings wickets to hasten England’s collapse in his 100th Test match.
England seamer James Anderson, meanwhile, became the first pace bowler to claim 700 Test wickets, partially lifting the gloom that had settled on England’s travelling “Barmy Army” fans.
This was India’s 17th consecutive Test series win at home, where they have not lost a series since Alastair Cook’s England bested them in 2012.
And they achieved it without batting stalwart Virat Kohli, who missed the series for personal reasons, and frontline seamer Mohammed Shami who was injured.
Batter KL Rahul missed the last four Tests with injury as well but India’s formidable bench strength meant their absence was not really felt.
Incredible
Of the five Indian players who made their Test debut in the series, stumper Dhruv Jurel, seamer Akash Deep and batters Sarfaraz Khan and Devdutt Padikkal impressed immediately.
“I just always really believe that there’s an incredible amount of talent in India and a lot of young people, young players coming through,” India head coach Rahul Dravid said.
Under Stokes and head coach Brendon “Baz” McCullum, England have espoused a flamboyant, even if risk-fraught, brand of cricket built around fearless batting.
The same approach that largely worked back home appeared somewhat one-dimensional and even reckless.
Opener Ben Duckett’s dismissal yesterday illustrated the limitation of that approach.
Having conceded a first innings lead of 259, England were already far behind and would have benefited from cautious, safety-first batting to avoid an innings defeat.
Instead, whether due to a lack of trust in his own defence or an urge to impose himself early, Duckett charged forward against Ashwin only to miss the ball and lose his off-stump.
The opener was so far down the track he would have been stumped if he had not been bowled.
By contrast Joe Root, who struck 84 in England’s meagre second-innings 195, showed how touring batters can temper their aggression to master spin in India.
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