This week’s top story has to be England’s win in the second Test against India, so I decided to focus on that for this week’s article. Here I’ll look at the reasons behind England’s victory, some areas of concern for the home side and whether England really have what it takes to become the world’s number one Test team. As ever, feel free to leave any comments or suggestions below, and if you like what you see, why not become a follower?
England took a major step towards replacing India at the top of the world Test rankings with an emphatic win at Trent Bridge. It took just four days for the hosts to wrap up a 319-run victory and take a 2-0 lead in the four-match series.
As clear-cut as this sounds, this was far from being a straightforward victory. England had to be rescued by some individual heroics, notably from Broad and Bresnan, and they were also helped by an Indian side who were poor in several areas. Concerns also remain for the home side, with injuries and a lack of form both having the potential to cause problems. So, essentially, let’s not get carried away and claim this was a perfect performance.
I say that first of all because, to be honest, it’s hard not to get carried away. After all, England have just beaten the world’s top Test side by a huge margin. Yes, there were some major scares along the way. England needed a quick-fire 50 from Stuart Broad to spare their blushes in the first innings. Broad then had to produce some of his best bowling, including a hat-trick, to keep the hosts within touching distance at the halfway stage. But that’s the sign of a great side – when they seem to be struggling, key players are able to lift their game and get things back on track.
It’s this trait that separates the world’s best sides from all the others. And it’s one that England have demonstrated time and again so far in this series. Take the first innings here: England had been reduced to 124-8 at tea on day one before Broad’s 64 helped steer them to a more respectable 221 all out. He then produced a great display with the ball, including five wickets for no runs in sixteen deliveries, to reduce India to 288 all out and keep England in with a chance.
An eventful second innings saw the home side capitalise on that to reach 544, setting India a target of 478 to win. This achievement was even more impressive given the poor form that continued to dog England’s openers, particularly Alistair Cook who made just seven runs in the entire match. Enter Ian Bell, who has struggled when batting at number three in the past, who silenced his critics with a confident and stylish 157. An excellent 90 from Tim Bresnan and some woeful fielding piled on the misery for India, whose bowlers looked to have run out of ideas as England reached a daunting total of 544.
It would be wrong not to pause here and consider the controversy surrounding the dismissal and subsequent recalling of Ian Bell. This one seems to have split the pundits, with some praising Indian captain M. S. Dhoni for upholding the spirit of the game and others criticising his failure to uphold a legitimate appeal. I don’t intend to wade into this debate, other than to express my relief that it didn’t have a significant impact on the outcome of the match. No-one, I would hope, would seriously try to argue that had Bell’s dismissal been upheld, India would have fought back to win the match. It was a confusing and potentially ugly incident, but it was quickly resolved (whatever you think of the decision) and ultimately proved largely irrelevant.
So, on to India’s second innings. The visiting side never looked likely to reach their target, and their hopes of even coming close were dealt a serious blow when Broad removed Rahul Dravid for just six runs. England’s seamers piled on the pressure, and before long V. V. S. Laxman’s middle stump was sent flying by a great delivery from James Anderson. But the day belonged to Tim Bresnan, the Yorkshireman (on Yorkshire day – who knew that existed until yesterday?) taking his first ever Test match five-wicket haul. The one bright spot for India was a half-century from Sachin Tendulkar, but even that brief show of defiance came to an end after a poor leave trapped him lbw from the bowling of Broad. With the great man gone it was simply a question of how long it would take England to wrap things up. Appropriately, it fell to man of the match Broad to do the honours, bowling Sreesanth to leave India on just 158 all out.
There’s no doubt that this was an impressive victory, secured by a team that is staking its claim to be the world’s best. But it was also a sorry defeat for a team that has failed to fire so far in this series. It’s true that India have suffered from injury and illness to key players, but so have England. As I’ve mentioned, it’s how they react in moments of adversity that separates the best from the rest, and India’s response to losing Zaheer Khan, and to poor performances from their leading batsmen, has placed them decidedly in the latter category. It seems highly likely that England will replace India as the world’s top Test team after this series. If that happens, few will deny that they deserve it.
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