England’s two month-long tour of India recently concluded, and the home team walked away with a series win in all three formats of the game. The English played well in the T20s and ODIs, while the Test Series was mostly dominated by India after England gave India a mighty scare in the first Test. Here is the full schedule of England’s 2021 tour of India, should you want to take a look at the scorecards in detail. Below we are going to provide you with a review of England’s tour of India.
The Test Series
The squad selection for the test team was pretty good except for the inclusion of Shahbaz Nadeem and Kuldeep Yadav. The latter sat on the bench for the Australia and England series, while the former did not cover himself in any glory in the first Test. It probably would have made more sense to send Yadav out to play some domestic cricket so that he could stay fit and in form instead of just warming the bench. It probably would have been wise to do the same with KL Rahul, who was having a torrid time of things during the Tests but has always been a danger in white ball cricket.
In our opinion, Nadeem’s place in the squad should have go to Siraj Ahmed because it is always wise to keep one eye on the future. Or, if India felt that they really needed a third spinner, then they could have gone with Rahul Chahar, with their eyes on the future once again.
If they wanted experience, then Yuzvendra Chahal would have been the perfect choice. Nadeem’s figures in the first test of 4 wickets for 233 runs from the 59 overs that he bowled showed that India made a bad decision by selecting him. He was replaced by Test debutant Axar Patel for the rest of the Test series, who went on to cause the English batsmen a whole host of issues. In the three Tests that he played, he picked up 27 wickets, which had many people asking why selectors ignored him in the first Test. Washington Sundar was the third-choice spinner, and this was a fair choice.
We really cannot read too much into England’s selection since they currently have a rotation policy going to ensure that none of their players are playing too much cricket or are spending too long in the bio-bubble. This means that they are not playing their strongest team all the time. For example, after the first Test that England won easily, Jos Buttler was sent back to England. There has been a lot of criticism about this, but due to all the cricket that England are scheduled to play this year, it makes perfect sense.
After a horrendous first Test, the Indians showed just why it is that they are rarely beaten at home and went on to win the series 3-1. Rohit Sharma (345 runs) and Rishabh Pant (270 runs) were the standout batsmen for India, while Joe Root (368 runs) and Ben Stokes (203 runs) stood out for England. Ravi Ashwin (32 wickets) and Axar Patel (27 wickets) were India’s best bowlers, while Jack Leach (18 wickets) shone for England.
The T20 Series
Five T20 matches followed the Test series, and this is a format that both teams are really good at. What makes this format so interesting is the fact that the best batsmen and bowlers can flounder, while a newbie can flourish on any given day. It was, as expected, a very hard-fought series and India were lucky to come out on top 3-2. This was good news for them as several cricket betting sites had backed England to win the series.
For India, their main concern throughout the series was the Rahul’s form as he scored 1, 0, 0, and 14 in the first four games. This is where that stint in domestic cricket that we mentioned above would have come in handy. The highlights for India though were the performances of debutants Ishan Krishan and Sura Yadav.
Although England lost the series, they would not have been too disappointed by their performances. If a bit of luck went their way here or there, it would have been them who lifted the trophy. Also, we must keep in mind that they were probably disadvantaged by the aforementioned rotation policy. Virat Kohli was in fine form and was probably the difference between the sides. In the 5 matches, he scored 231 runs at an average of 115.50 – his average was boosted significantly by his 3 not outs.
The ODI Series
England ended their tour of India with a 3-match ODI series, and the Indians knew that they would have to be at the top of their game to win the series, even though England rested some key players. England have been the team to beat in an ODI series for some time now, and not many manage to do so. Although Scottish cricket will be quick to tell you that the last time that they played England, they won by six runs.
it was clear to see that the Indian selectors are not too sure what their best team is. This is understandable when you have so much talent at your disposal. They did not choose a sixth bowler, which is seen by many teams as a must nowadays. If they were not going to bowl Hardik Pandya, and he did not bowl a single ball in the first two games, then playing him instead of arguably better batsmen such as Surya Kumar Yadav, Ishan Krishan, or Manish Pandey was a questionable decision.
In the first two matches, he managed scores of 1 and 35, and the batsmen that we just mentioned above more than likely would have done better than that. The fact that he did not bowl in the first two matches definitely had an impact on the team. In the third game, he bowled 9 overs for 48 runs and scored 64 runs, which finally justified his inclusion. This proved the need for a sixth bowling option when Krunal Pandya leaked plenty of runs in his 4 overs.
The real selection problem came in the spin bowling department. Kruyal Pandy was in the team as one of the main bowlers and any runs he added with the bat were seen as bonus runs. In the first match, he had figures of 59 runs for 1 wicket from his ten overs. In the second match, he bowled 6 overs for 72 runs and in the third he bowled 4 overs for 29 runs. His performances did not justify his inclusion as a frontline bowler. It is surprising that he played in all three matches as his wicket taking ability is poor and there is always a chance that he will leak plenty of runs.
Keeping the likes of Ashwin and Chahal out of ODI games is really bizarre. Some Test match innings do not last as long as an ODI, so if Ashwin is seen as a match winner in the Test arena, then we do not see why it is assumed he cannot be the same in ODI matches. He is India’s best spinner and should just walk into India’s starting XI.
Temperament and experience are important when it comes to selecting players for a Test game, but in the shorter version it is important to infuse fresh blood as the younger players nowadays have a no fear approach. This was proved by the likes of Axar, Krishan, Sundar, and Yadav.
When it comes to England, given that they play in an aggressive manner it probably suits them better if they bat first when winning the toss. However, they chose to field first and this was probably an error on their part. Setting a target is something that allows them to play with uninhibited aggression, although they have shown in the past that no target is too big for them to chase down.
The ODI series, like the T20 series, was a close-fought battle and India came out on top 2-1. Jonny Bairstow was the leading run scorer with 219 runs from 3 matches, while Rahul finally found form for India and scored 177 runs from 3 matches. Shikhar Dhawan (169 runs), Pant (155 runs) and Ben Stokes (135 runs) all chipped in.
