Foreign conditions...it’s never easy

Sai Sudharsan (left), Abhimanyu Easwaran and Karun Nair (right) during India’s training session at The County Ground, Beckenham, on Thursday. PIC/PTI

The series for the Tendulkar-Anderson Trophy is getting more and more riveting with every day. How many matches in recent times have gone to the fifth and final day with both teams in with a chance of winning the game? That England are ahead 2-1 is quite simply because they, and not India, have had the rub of the blue at crucial moments in the matches. Hopefully, that will change in the next two Test matches and this young and talented Indian team will end up winning both the games and with it the series.

Talented, but lack experience

Talented this Indian team definitely is, but because it is short on experience, they have not been able to recognise the moments where they could have turned things around and tightened the screws. Their effort level has been splendid, particularly from the fast bowlers who have bowled their hearts out trying to get the stubborn partnerships broken and get their team ahead. Here, they haven't always had the support from their fielders, which has made their task even more difficult.

The pitches have been pretty flat in all the three games with only the fresh pitch on days one giving the bowlers some assistance. After that, they have been benign and the bowlers have had to really toil to get the wickets.

With five Test matches squeezed in six-and-a-half weeks, there hasn't been enough time to relax and take stock of the situation and look for any remedial measures. The reluctance to use the gaps between games to play practice games also does not help as that pretty much means that after the first couple of games, four to five players in the touring squad know that they will not get to play in the Tests and will only be drinks bearers.

While it is fair for the seniors to take it easy in these gaps and try and get away from cricket and get their bodies and minds refreshed for the remaining battles, the youngsters in the team without much experience of playing in foreign conditions could do with game time to press their case for inclusion in the playing XI. Even those out of form or rhythm would appreciate the chance to get their mojo back.

Not having any match practice will only make the guys, who have not done well to worry a bit more, which doesn't stand them in good stead. This eight-day gap before the Manchester Test would have been most useful for the likes of Yashasvi Jaiswal, Karun Nair, Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran to get some useful batting practice even if it was a match played against an ordinary team. For bowlers like Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Prasidh Krishna too, it would have helped to get their run-ups, lines and lengths going. Imagine if they suddenly have to bowl in a Test match when they haven't played any cricket for more than a month. To expect them to get going straightaway would be totally unfair on these young and keen cricketers.

Playing in foreign conditions is never easy, though this time in England, the weather and the pitches have been pretty similar to those in India. Manchester could be the real test as the weather there is more on the wet and cold side which we Indians don't like much. Still, like I said earlier, if luck goes India's way, the tables can be turned on the hosts.

In the end, it might be pertinent to note that India have won a Test series in England only thrice. In 1971 under Ajit Wadekar, in 1986 under Kapil Dev and in 2007 under Rahul Dravid. All three were the coolest skippers one could ever hope for. The laconic style of Wadekar, the rip roaring yet controlled style of Kapil and the intense and thoughtful method of Dravid. Not once did these three ever get excited whatever the situation and that calm certainty was infectious.

Gill needs to deliver again

Shubman Gill in Birmingham looked like an amalgam of these three. Intense and laconic while scoring a double century and a century, rip roaring as well as thoughtful as his bowlers ran through the England batting in both the innings. If he can find that formula again then the first ever Tendulkar-Anderson Trophy will be in the Cricket Centre at the Wankhede Stadium on 6th August.

Professional Management Group