India’s abject surrender at Lord’s was a bitter disappointment.
After the excellent commitment at Edgbaston, the lack of fight was galling. England did have the better of the conditions, but they also made the most of the assistance they received, while India caved in meekly, especially when it came to the batting.
As much as the technical inadequacies what stood out was a lack of belief, which manifested itself in tentativeness and a lack of positivity in body language. Once you start doubting your abilities, there is no way back. Every member of the squad must look himself in the mirror, ask tough questions and come back with honest answers. India have the wherewithal from a cricketing perspective to fight back from 2-0 down, but for that, they must first sort out the issues in their minds, which clearly are several.
In their last 10 overseas innings, India have topped 250 only twice, and on both those occasions, Virat made a big hundred. That doesn’t reflect well on an experienced batting line-up that has played previously in England, and is therefore aware of what to expect. England have a top-class bowling attack with two standout performers in James Anderson and Stuart Broad, but they are not unplayable. If anything, they handed out a lesson in adaptability to India’s bowlers.
In the first innings, when the ball was swinging, they bowled fuller lengths and when swing wasn’t pronounced in the second, they hit the deck and relied on cutters. India might have had a semblance of an excuse for being shot out for 107 in their first innings, but they should have done much better in the second. It was as if they were resigned to their fate, which is something the think tank must address quickly before the Nottingham Test later this week.
Communication and transparency in selection is crucial, but it is also imperative that one is flexible. At the toss on the second morning, with clouds gathering and everything crying out for a third specialist paceman, India left out Umesh Yadav and brought in Kuldeep Yadav. As well as Hardik Pandya bowled, India were unable to maintain relentless pressure when England were 131 for five, which helped Jonny Bairstow and Chris Woakes to stage a wonderful rescue act. England turned in a collective performance in conditions right up their sleeve, but India are a much better team than what we saw at Lord’s. But unless they start believing that, it could be a long summer ahead.
