The way England dwarfed the mammoth target of 378 runs in the Edgbaston Test due to the excellent batting of Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow, it is clear that the team had excellent planning in this match, which made this task easy. I feel if there would have been 100 runs more in this target, even then England would have easily achieved the target because the performance level of the Indian team was quite mild, especially in the second innings, and our team got exposed in every department of the game. England team took full advantage of all the weaknesses of Indian team and beat our team in every department in the end.
Till the third day, Team India was ahead of the England team, and I felt that this match would go in India’s favour since till the fourth day, England team was nowhere in this match. If Team India had played in full form, then this match could have ended in favour of Team India on the fourth day itself. But the way England’s opening pair started in the second innings, it was clear that their intentions were different, but after that, what happened on the fourth day was quite the opposite of what was expected and England defeated Indian team in every aspect.
If I analyse the fourth day, the intentions of the England team were very clear, and from the very first ball, the England batsman were very positive. The way England batted, Indian bowlers should have thought about how to bowl in a planned manner. Also, the team should have had prepared Plan B. This is what we do in the Ranji Trophy also. When the pitch is good and the batsmen are building partnerships, you start restricting the pace of runs and you suggest your bowlers to avoid the boundaries. This clearly means that if you play keeping the basics in mind, you can make the match difficult for the opponent. The way Jonny Bairstow and Joe Root have played on the last day, this target became dwarf. England got the remaining runs on this day in 18 overs or say that these two batsmen trampled our bowlers. Not playing Ravichandran Ashwin in this match was according to me the biggest mistake.
The greats like Rahul Dravid, Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Virat Kohli, etc. should sit together and it is important to think over this defeat. They will have to carry out an introspection and understand those facts closely that why India lost this test. Where did the mistake happen and how can these mistakes be rectified?
The writer has played for Team India.