Kochi: India encountered a shocking defeat in the hands of host England by an innings and 76 runs at Headingley exposing the chinks in the team. The team failed to prove its worth as it could not put up a formidable fight to avoid an innings defeat. Win and loss are part of any game, but the way India surrendered to the host would have hurt the cricket lovers badly.
It is true that luck did not favour India at it missed a near-win in the first test which ended in a draw due to rains when the visitors were slowly heading towards a possible victory. The second test was won by India by an unprecedented show displayed by the players in both the departments, mainly the tail-enders.
The question that may arise in many cricket lovers’ minds is the selection of a few players who get special treatment by the selectors. This is the issue that has always haunted the team in the past and there seems to be no solution to it.
India crumbling to 78 runs in the first innings after selecting to bat shattered those following the game closely. England posting a mammoth total in the same pitch showed that either Indian batsmen were unable to endure the rival pacers or Indian bowlers were no match to their counterparts.
Hoping to see a better show in the second innings, India showed signs of a comeback when Rohit Sharma hit 59, followed by 91 by Cheteshwar Pujara and 55 by captain Kohli.
But all the hopes crashed when Rishabh Pant, who occupies the space left by legendary player M D Dhoni, played irresponsibly and got out cheaply. Ajinkya Rahane failed to click while Ravindra Jadeja could shore up only 30.
But all this was insufficient to come out of the deficit and avoid an innings defeat. The tailenders, who did wonders in the previous test that went in India’s favour, failed terribly this time. The defeat was so humiliating that the match ended on the fourth day on Saturday.
Robinson took five wickets while Craig Overton three. England made 432 in the first innings helped by J Root’s wonderful 121 and half-centuries by Rory Burns, Haseeb Hameed and Dawid Malan. Ishant Sharma bowled 22 overs and gave away 92 runs and failed to take a wicket. Mohammad Shami took four which Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Siraj and Jadeja claimed two each.
The fourth Test starts at The Oval on Thursday with the series tied 1-1 in the five-test series.
