A Trio of Promises Who Let Down Team India in England

India’s tour of England will go down into the history books for more reasons than one. A final hurrah for Alastair Cook speaks volumes, who eventually ended his illustrious career just the way he began- scoring a fifty and a hundred against the same opposition India.

Pacer James Anderson achieved the feat of being the highest wicket-taker while going past Glenn McGrath’s 563 Test wickets. A young Sam Curran showing is mettle as a lethal all-rounder and Virat Kohli finally taming the demons on English soil.

There was so much on offer, yet the scoreline reads 4-1, in favour of the hosts Three Lions. The Indian line-up fell like a pack of cards, of-course Kohli being the ace, doing much of the damage single-handedly.

The visitors came close to winning games and crossing the much-talked-about finishing line. But they failed. A collective failure for the batters while the pace-battery looked right on the money.

So, we look at the three promising talents, who let down India massively.

1.Shikhar Dhawan

On his day, the opener can spell trouble for the opposition. He cuts it hard, hurts bowlers’ ego with his pulls and comes down the wicket to the best of spinners when on a song.

Unfortunately, the only time we saw ‘Gabbar’ dance was at The Oval, near the boundary ropes. He danced to the beats of Bhangra, and it was a great sight to witness.

But he failed to put a smile on the Indian spectators’ faces with the willow in hand. Dhawan couldn’t justify his selection. His future in red-ball cricket is very much in tatters. Eight innings, 162 runs, lot many edges and a faulty average of 20.25 is just saddening. He failed to provide the start India were looking for and was undone by the fresh new duke.

2. KL Rahul”

Yes, he did score a magnificent 149 at The Oval when the chips were down. It was the second highest by an Indian batsman in the fourth innings of a Test match. He stitched a valuable 200-plus run partnership with young Rishabh Pant and gave slight hope of saving the day. But remember the school days? When your ‘BFF’ scored a seven in Physics, 16 in Chemistry. But ended up with 91 in English? He was detained!

In the same manner, the stylish batter had scores of 4, 13 in Birmingham. 8 and 10 in what turned out to be an innings defeat for the visitors at the ‘Home of Cricket’- Lord’s. He contributed with a 23 and 36 in the victory at Trent Bridge and managed to score 19 and a duck in the fourth Test in Southampton. He looked promising, but it turned out to be too little too late.

3.Hardik Pandya

All-rounder Hardik Pandya was all over the place in England. While each of England’s all-rounder put up consistent shows, India had only one lad to fall back on. It seemed like Pandya wasn’t ready for test cricket.

A good start in whites against Sri Lanka, where he scored a fifty and a ton, helped him bag the stats. But in conditions that didn’t favour the batsmen, Pandya struggled to put bat to ball.

Promising Pandya was just like a walking duck lower-down the order, waiting to be hunted. The think-tank probably missed a trick by not using him as a pinch-hitter up the order.

England did something similar with Moeen Ali. Even though, it will be unfair to compare their respective credentials as Ali has showcased great application, patience and technique when needed.

The flamboyant Gujarat-born cricketer stepped up his game in Nottingham. He recorded his maiden five-for in England and celebrated it with unbeaten 52*.

In conclusion, Pandya failed to do justice to the ‘all-rounder’ tag and hardly provided relief to the new-ball bowlers for India against England.