England’s heartless triumph over the Indians

It is only when you get smacked cold in the face that you realize the mistakes that have led you to the current situation. One might think a fluke or a chance of nature caused the knock-over witnessed between the former and current World Test Champions.

Before the start of this much anticipated series, there was a high prospect of an Indian win, and thus, the retention of the Patuadi Trophy. What was hoped to be a battle of the titans turned out to be a one-sided affair with Brits dominating every outlook in each of the four matches. The only time the Indians portrayed an authentic act of competing was in the first innings of the last day of the fourth test match. That, too, was a show which saw five lives being conferred to Sachin Tendulkar as he made his painstaking way towards the elusive 100th hundred.

England has since long had an edge over India in each area of the cricketing unit; thus, the batting was not the only feature that took a setback for the Indians. The bowlers struggled for impact and consistency throughout as the England batsmen piled runs in every test. Exceptional bowling by England bowlers got them 80 wickets compared to 47 taken by Indians. England’s wickets-per-match figure in the series (20) is well above their mark in the tests preceding the series (15.84). The respective figure for India (11.75) is much lower than the corresponding number in the tests before the series (15.63). The table below shows the dismissal performance in the series compared to their pre-series numbers.

“I always think it is very dangerous to try to hold on to what you have got,” Flower told reporters after the Edgbaston Test. “We used that goal – to be No. 1 – as a motivational tool that drove us in training and in matches. Now, that we have achieved that, what [Andrew] Strauss and I don’t want to do is hang on to No. 1 status. That’s not a very exciting way to go about our business. We are going to have to reset our goals.”

“Now that we are ranked No.1, people will be very hungry to knock us off that perch. There is no doubt about that,” said Flower. “It is one thing being good for a short period of time – but having a side that delivers some special results and has some special times together that they will remember for the rest of their lives, that will be a much better thing to look back on than a few victories here and there.”

Stuart Broad, Man of the Series; taking 25 wickets at 13.84 and scoring 182 runs.