India vs England 2021: 3 Reasons Why India Lost The First Test Against England In Chennai

England defeated India in the first Test of the four-match series being played at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. It was a clinical performance from the visitors as they focused on the home side’s weak points and made the maximum of the luck that they received at the start.

Captain Joe Root started on the right foot, by calling the coin toss in his favor. And then England decided to bat India out of the game, as they batted almost two full days and scored 578 runs. They were led by Root himself, who made 218, while Dom Sibley made 87, and Ben Stokes contributed 82 runs to the cause.

India just couldn’t keep up with the brilliant bowling from Jofra Archer, James Anderson, Jack Leach, and Dom Bess, and even Ben Stokes got involved. They made 337 in the first innings, a score buoyed by half-centuries from Cheteshwar Pujara, Rishabh Pant, and Washington Sundar.

England made 178 in the second do and set India a target of 420 runs. India capitulated in front of a brilliant spell from James Anderson, as they lost their spine despite Virat Kohli doing well in the chase, but they could only make 192 and lost the match by 227 runs.

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Let’s see the 3 main reasons why India faltered against England in Chennai and lost the first Test.

1 – Poor batting from main batsmen

India had a daunting task of England’s 578 in their first innings and they needed their openers to do well and give them a good start. However, Jofra Archer removed Rohit Sharma early to peg India back. While Shubman Gill looked golden during his 28-ball stay, he threw his wicket away going for an expansive drive.

Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane, two of the most experienced batsmen in the team and the captain and vice-captain of the Indian national cricket team, failed in the first innings, while Rahane returned a 0 in the second as well. If it had not been for Cheteshwar Pujara (73), Rishabh Pant (91), and Washington Sundar (85*), the Indian team might have gifted England a lead of more than 241 runs.

The story repeated in the second innings as well, as Rohit fell early again, while Cheteshwar Pujara (15), Rishabh Pant (11), and others failed again, while Virat Kohli stood like a rock with a 104-ball 72. He tried his best to put some resistance, but in the end, got no help from others and India folded for 192, losing the match by 227 runs.

Had the likes of Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, and Rishabh Pant batted with more responsibility, things could have been different. Rohit failed to give a good start to the Indian team, while Rishabh Pant threw his wicket away at 91, despite many defending his strokeplay as “just how he bats.”

And Ajinkya Rahane needs to carry his weight in the team with the bat, as he has done very little since scoring a century in MCG.

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2 – Non-existent support from Shahbaz Nadeem and Washington Sundar with the ball

The Chepauk pitch is notorious for taking spin from day three onwards and it was a big intrigue on what bowling combination would India go in with. They decided to go with Ishant Sharma’s experience despite his rustiness, to partner Jasprit Bumrah. Ravichandran Ashwin was already slotted in the playing XI.

However, the inclusion of Shahbaz Nadeem and Washington Sundar raised quite a few eyebrows, especially, when India had Kuldeep Yadav in their ranks. Sundar and Nadeem only came into the side, as India looked to strengthen the batting after Axar Patel got injured on the morning of the match.

This fared poorly for India as Shahbaz Nadeem bowled 59 overs for a total of 233 runs to pick up four wickets in the match. He also contributed 7 no-balls to a total of over 20 such deliveries, showing the indiscipline amongst the Indian bowling attack.

Washington Sundar, on the other end, playing a brilliant knock of 85*, but with the ball, returned figures of 98 runs in 26 overs in the first innings, while was employed for just one over in the second innings. This showed how badly the support bowlers bowled and this put pressure on the main bowlers.

Though Ravichandran Ashwin picked 9 wickets in the match including 6/61, and Bumrah got 4 wickets and Ishant Sharma completed 300 wickets in Tests; overall the bowling proved to be weak as India lost the Test in the first innings itself as England made 578 runs.

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3 – Lack of variety in the bowling attack

The idea of going in with two off-spinners in Ravichandran Ashwin and Washington Sundar proved to be counter-productive. This led to no variety in the spin attack with only Shahbaz Nadeem in the XI as the left-arm spinner, who took the ball away from right-handers.

This was done despite India having left-arm chinaman Kuldeep Yadav and leg-spinner Rahul Chahar in the squad as well. If India had gone with either of the two, they would have a more varied attack, which would have kept the England batsmen guessing throughout the match.

Unfortunately, Joe Root, Dom Sibley, and Ben Stokes made merry as Shahbaz Nadeem and Washington Sundar bowled excess of loose deliveries and England piled up 578 runs in the first innings.

It was criminal of Indian team management to keep Kuldeep Yadav out of the playing XI, despite him being the most suited to pick wickets on that red Chennai pitch and would have done well against England players, who have found it hard to pick such unorthodox bowlers from other teams as well.

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