IND vs ENG 1st Test: Lack of plan B, frequency of boundary balls and tactical blunders, how England’s bowlers let India build a massive lead | Cricket News

The Bazballers from England may have found a workable approach to survive against India’s spinners, but they are in dire need of a Plan B in bowling if they are to nurse any chance of competing in the series. Having decided to bench James Anderson and Ollie Robinson, their attack that includes two spinners with just one Test experience between them and a fast-bowler who can’t perform defensive roles meant they let India dictate the terms on Day 2 of the first Test.With an inadequate bowling resource and Jack Leach unable to bowl long spells with a sore left knee, England were in no position to put any sort of pressure on India, who were 421/7 at stumps on Day 2 with a healthy lead of 175.
On a day where England needed their bowlers to keep them in the game, they fell way short of it as KL Rahul’s wonderfully crafted 86 and Ravindra Jadeja’s solid, unbeaten 81 on Friday put them into submission. Having put 246 on board, which seemed sufficient on the first day, England’s two rookie spinners – Rehan Ahmed and debutant Tom Hartley — alone conceded 236 runs between them in 48 over, thus hardly helping their cause.

15 runs off the final over of Day 2 courtesy @akshar2026 🔥🔥
The Jadeja-Axar partnership now 63*-runs strong 💪
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— BCCI (@BCCI) January 26, 2024
Overseas teams, who mostly play with one established spinner at home, bringing rookies to India and relying on them on rank turners isn’t new. From Jason Krezja, Steve O’Keefe, Matthew Kuhnemann, Australia have done it over the years. While the likes of O’Keefe, Kuhnemann and Todd Murphy did manage to inflict damage on India’s batting unit, the conditions here in Hyderabad were far different to those they played on.
Of course, England did read the pitch right, fielding three spinners like India did. But this isn’t the sort of track that narrowed the gulf in class between the two sets of spinners. It actually only widened it from the moment it became clear that it wasn’t a raging turner, but a slow one where you need to have patience, impeccable control and guile to master these conditions, especially when the ball gets old.

Watch out for that trademark sword celebration 😎
Ravindra Jadeja at his best 🙌
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— BCCI (@BCCI) January 26, 2024
“It’s not going to be easy. Just because it’s spinning doesn’t mean it makes the game easier,” England’s assant coach Jeetan Patel said. “For spinners sometimes it becomes harder because there’s so much expectation. Our guys learned from yesterday and bowled better today and will bowl better tomorrow and the day after tomorrow. They have to no keep getting better in the series,” he added.
As it was on Day 1, the pitch didn’t crumble like it during England’s tour in 2021. This had good bounce; there was turn too; and it got slower as the day progressed. At the same time, it had runs on offer as well. That the top five of India’s batting line-up were dismissed going for aggressive stroke showed how lacklustre the English attack was. Like Rohit Sharma on Day 1, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul got out going for aggressive shots.It was not a case of them not trusting their defence but those deliveries were asking to be punished. The last two were caught at deep mid-wicket to balls that sat up and were asking to be hit. One could argue they missed out on runs, but India didn’t suffer because of those.
Indisciplined, insipid
On pitches like these, dot balls after dot balls build pressure, which in turn forces batsmen to search for boundaries, which could bring with it an element of risk. Truth to be told, England spinners dot-ball percentage was almost similar to that of India’s. But the difference was how often England’s spinners conceded boundaries. Hartley conceded one every 8.33 deliveries. Ahmed 9.20, Root 16.00. Leach, the most experienced one, was the lone exception, giving away a boundary only every 30 deliveries as India were content enough in safely negating him.

MAXIMUM x 2 💥@klrahul dealing in sixes in Hyderabad 😎
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— BCCI (@BCCI) January 26, 2024
Having not bowled Joe Root on Day 1 when Jaiswal was taking down left-arm spinner and debutant Tom Hartley, Ben Stokes opened with him on Friday and got the opener dismissed in the first over. But the time Leach came on in the ninth over of the day, Rahul had overcome the tentative start and settled for another crucial innings. The first spell of Leach lasted all of two overs before Stokes turned to Mark Wood, partly because he didn’t want to take Hartley out of the attack, who had just dismissed Gill. Testing Shreyas with Wood seemed tempting, but it came with its own risk.

To have a fast bowler, who can be an X-factor on any surface with his pace is one thing, but sans anyone to lend control at the other end, it can go awry. Having started conceding three boundaries to Rahul in the first over, in that four-over spell, Wood got to bowl only eight deliveries to Shreyas, who then was fully prepared for what came ahead. Maybe someone like James Anderson, who helplessly watched leaning his back to the boundary LED screens, may have offered Stokes a bit more control.

Half-century in his 50th Test! 👏👏@klrahul continues his brilliant form with the bat👌👌
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— BCCI (@BCCI) January 26, 2024
Bowling Hartley and Ahmed with fielders at catching positions seemed like a part of a big picture. In a five-Test marathon series, England do seem to realise that they won’t get results straight away and there is a need to back them. Losing small battles to win a war isn’t new. But the question is whether England are doing this with the right resources.