Bungling in Birmingham and some other stray thoughts

By Rahul Banerji

It was always going to happen. Driven by their bowlers, India had twice averted defeat at the ICC Cricket World Cup, most notably against Afghanistan. But that the odds would catch up was inevitable, as was the case against England at Birmingham on Sunday.

A hyper-long tail means that hunting down tall totals is going to be a problem. With Shikhar Dhawan out of the picture thanks to a fractured thumb, it will have to be a Virat-Rohit show in such a scenario. There simply isn’t enough class or experience in the rest of the batting to sustain a big chase.

Clear thinking

England just put the right pieces together to test – and upend – India at Birmingham. 1. Got the combination right with an extra fast bowler. 2. Won the toss. 3. Ran up a big score, and 4. Denied India’s lower order the length to hit freely.

Poor old Vijay Shankar may be on his way back home with a broken toe but his selection sent out all the wrong signals. An all-rounder batting at number four, a position once held by Sachin Tendulkar meant the thinking had been askew. It is a specialist’s slot, period. For many students of the game, it is the pivot of the batting.

To hope a stop-gap would be good enough in a World Cup campaign was at best, wishful thinking.

 To the game at Edgbaston itself.

A recovered and refreshed Jason Roy and Jonny Bairstow put up 160 to start with. Mohammad Shami helped India pull things back superbly with five wickets before losing the plot completely at the end. And Ben Stokes put the pedal to the metal just when it was needed.

Pounded

India’s two spinners Yuzi Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav together gave away 160 runs for one wicket, hammered mercilessly through and over the shorter boundary. Bairstow’s 111 had seven sixes – all to the leg side. England were to hit the ball over the boundary rope 13 times in total.

The think tank on the field completely failed to counter the assault, sticking to formula in bowler rotation. In some ways, the drift in Birmingham brought back memories of how Graham Gooch swept India out of the 1987 semi-final in Mumbai.

Shami’s return did enough to shake up England but needing to finish the job, he lost his length, Bumrah bowled an excellent final spell but his partner bled runs at the other end.

Stokes (89, 82 and 79 on Sunday), already England’s man of the tournament, was happy to cash in on the flow of full tosses on his leg stump.

Virat Kohli is the chaser supreme, but just hasn’t kicked on at this World Cup. He’s got five half-centuries but not the big ones expected. He and Rohit Sharma put on 138 for the second wicket but the moment Kohli fell, the momentum began to shift.

Tight work

And at the end, England’s planning to counter the dangerous Hardik Pandya and Mahendra Singh Dhoni was excellent. Against Pandya, who camps deep in his crease, they kept the ball short enough to cramp his swing. For Dhoni, there was no width to bring the patented helicopter shot into play.

Against England’s 13, India’s lone six came in the final over when it was more gesture than effect.

So what now? The Men in Blue (and not the mish-mash seen on Sunday) essentially need just one more point to seal a semi-final berth with games against Bangladesh (Tuesday) and then Sri Lanka (Saturday) to go. They will go through, that much is certain. But where on the table is the question.

Also, consider the lost opportunity. Defeating England would have put the hosts on the very edge — if not out — of the tournament, thus eliminating one strong opponent in the knockouts.

India may well rue that as we go along deeper into the tournament.

Scenarios

Australia top the table on 13 points and have a last game against eliminated South Africa. Victory will mean they stay number one. Defeat will allow India (currently 11 points from seven games) a chance to take that away, provided Kohli’s team win both their matches.

England (10 points) can still go out if they lose to New Zealand (11 points) in their final fixture and Pakistan (9 points) down Bangladesh (7 points). But if the Tigers beat India and Pakistan, they could well be in the top four too.

Plenty to play for the top six teams, then.

Courageous display

Also read: 7 for 7; India v Pakistan in World Cups and the Tendulkar factor