KL Rahul learns 'control' from past failures, willing to 'challenge' himself with any role

Restrained Rahul resurrects Test career from brink, but hold off your horses for now

In mid of one of the many rain breaks on the second day of the Test, the series’ broadcaster Sony Network ran a split-screen to compare the batting stance of KL Rahul in the 2018 tour of England to the one in the ongoing first Test match. Bucking the trend of batsmen showing different stances and movement in the batting crease in the frame which shows their current and successful time at the crease, there were no visible changes in Rahul’s stance. His coach also reiterated the point that he did not make a lot of changes to his technique following a prolonged snub from India’s Test playing XI. But, did he really not make any changes to his batting from his last stint with India at the top of the order to the first innings of the Nottingham Test? No, he did make a massive improvement in his batting, but that changed came in his mind and ways to play the ball albeit it could not be shown on the split-screen. Like all analyses done in hindsight, this piece should also offer a caveat, and hence all of these improvements by Rahul could have worst nothing he would have been unlucky. The English bowling attack is capable of producing unplayable deliveries and he could well have found himself against one of them very early in the innings, and obituaries of his career would have started to be reiterating. But, the decorated bowling attack erred in their line and length of the attack late on the second day with the new ball and it allowed Rahul some breathing space while returning to the longest format of the game. Coming back to the improvement in mind, what did Rahul do differently than he was doing on the last tour of England which was a disaster except for the last innings of the series at the Oval. Rahul was calm at the batting crease and he shed the eagerness to play or push the ball like on the last tour. He was taking his bat way too ahead of his pad and the trio of Anderson, Broad, and Chris Woakes made the best advantage of the gap between bat and his pads. There was no gap this time around as the right-hander was watchful of the balls around the off stump. He played deliveries very late and sometimes so late that it appeared emulating Kane Williamson’s style of leaving and playing the ball. Go back to the last ball of the 59th over bowled by Stuart Broad as England heard a sound and took a review. The replay showed there was daylight between Rahul’s bat and the ball, but what it highlighted was how late he was while playing the ball, and watchful was he while taking off his bat from the line of the delivery just at the last moment. He batted with utmost awareness of where was his off stump and played with mastery of hiding the bat behind his pads after making a forward press. Anderson, in particular, lured him to many fuller balls outside off stump which could have been despatched to the boundary if he was willing to take the bait. However, he showed immense calm and never lost sight of the big picture and let all those half opportunities, fraught with risk go. He played as many as 213 balls with control before finally getting lured into playing a drive off Anderson and walked off dejected. But, did all those leaves outside off stump mean that he completely shut down the door of scoring through the off side. No, he did not do that either and waited ingeniously for his opportunities. He took a particular liking to Sam Curran and defeated him many times in the battle of eagerness. The left armer was desperate to search for the swing and offered him many deliveries in his half, and Rahul despatched all of them to the boundary to keep the runs flowing from his bat. In a way, his 84 did showcase a glimpse of both Kane Williamson when he was leaving the ball just at the late seconds, and Virat Kohli, when he was pouncing on the scoring opportunity when English bowlers offered him half volleys. Rahul’s career was in dire straits and he could have made his way back into the playing XI only in case if the team management would decide to move on from Ajinkya Rahane or some mishaps occurrence in the side. After initially going out of favour by the team management, Rahul’s fortunes dwindled with the emergence of many challengers for the opening slot such as Prithvi Shaw, Shubman Gill and Mayank Agarwal, the man he, fortunately, replaced in this Test match. However, his technique and ability were not lost on the team management and they made a choice of trying him in the middle order, and they were reluctant to use him at the top of the order even when the team suffered the exclusion of Gill on this tour. He was not to play this Test if Mohammed Siraj would not have hit Agarwal in his head and concussed him. But as the opportunity came his way to be back at the top of the order, he ensured to remind the team management and his critics that the Indian batting order is stronger with him in it rather than out of it. He also established why he deserves more chances than others, and that is why it was the right decision by the team management to have him in the mix. After the innings of 84, he has opened the selection pandora box for the team management and they have their task cut out to choose one among him and Agarwal for the second Test. If the team management will follow the past precedents set by Virat Kohli, Agarwal would be back in the team as Ajinkya Rahane once swiftly replaced Karun Nair although the latter had scored a marvellous triple hundred against England. However, Rahane’s had an upper hand because he was always a certain part of the playing XI while none of Agarwal and Rahul would have been the frontrunners in the first place if Gill would have been fit to play. The tour can still go awry for Rahul and the last tour of England 2018 serves good enough proof that he is capable of pulling off some remarkable innings based on his talent. However, he has appeared to be a lot calmer in mind and stronger in restraint to not waste a golden start to the series. He has resurrected his career that appeared to be on the brink of sliding into oblivion, but there are a lot of works remaining to be done if the team management decides to put their weight behind him going forward if he wants to cement his place back in the playing XI.

ENG vs IND | 1st Test: Rain likely to play spoilsport on Day 4

The rain might play a spoilsport on Day 4 of the first Test between India and England in Nottingham. The stumps were taken early on the third day as well due to rain. Earlier, India had taken the first innings lead after scoring 278 in reply to England’s 183. The visitors rode on some fine batting from KL Rahul who notched up 84 during the course and valuable contributions made by the tail. Mohammed Shami chipped in with 13 off 20, Jasprit Bumrah struck 28 off 34 that included three boundaries and a maximum and Mohammed Siraj remained unbeaten at 7 off 8 before the team was bundled out. For England, it was Ollie Robinson and James Anderson who picked up wickets. Robinson bagged a five-wicket haul while Anderson picked up four wickets. Robinson’s wickets included the dismissals of Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja, Shami and Bumrah. With his four-fer, Anderson also became the third highest wicket-taker in Test cricket as he picked up his 620th wicket during the course, surpassing Anil Kumble who has 610 scalps to his name. The home side was 25/0, trailing India by 70 runs when the stumps were called with Rory Burns and Dominic Sibley at the crease.

4th T20I Preview: Series won, Bangladesh to explore depth; Australia to fight for pride

Bangladesh have been on a roll in this bilateral tie against Australia after winning the first three T20Is of the five-match series to take an unassailable 3-0 lead at home. Defending a modest total of 127, the home side etched a win by 10 runs in the third clash to continue dominance in the series. While Bangladesh have shown some mettle in the series, Australia on the other hand have been struggling with form in the T20Is. The Aussie team has suffered defeats in their last five series in the T20 format. The only positive that came for them in the last encounter was Nathan Ellis’ hattrick. Ellis created history after becoming the first bowler to bag a hat trick in T20I debut. The visitors have faced some issues both on and off the field for quite sometime now. While they have missed the services of some key players like Glenn Maxwell and David Warner, their form especially with the bat hasn’t been really great. Barring Mitchell Marsh, no batsman has really gone all guns blazing in the recent past which has eventually resulted in defeat for Australia in yet another series away from home. The visiting team will now be looking for some consolation as they take the field on Saturday in Dhaka in the fourth T20I. Match Details Bangladesh vs Australia, 4th T20I Venue: Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur Date & Time: August 7th, 5:30 PM IST and 5:00 PM Local Time Live Streaming: Fancode Pitch Report The pitch might have something on offer for the bowlers and it would get slow as the game progresses. There hasn’t been any high-scoring game until now in the series. So, if you win the toss, bat first. Probable XI Bangladesh: Mohammad Naim Sheikh, Soumya Sarkar / Mosaddek Hossain, Shakib Al Hasan, Mahmudullah (c), Afif Hossain, Shamim Hossain, Nurul Hasan (wk), Mahedi Hasan, Shoriful Islam, Mustafizur Rahman, Nasum Ahmed Australia: Ben McDermott, Matthew Wade (c & wk), Mitchell Marsh, Moises Henriques, Alex Carey, Ashton Turner, Ashton Agar, Daniel Christian / Mitchell Starc, Nathan Ellis, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood Fantasy XI Alex Carey, Moises Henriques, Mahmudullah, Ben McDermott, Shakib Al Hasan (c), Mitchell Marsh (vc), Afif Hossain, Josh Hazlewood, Adam Zampa, Mustafizur Rahman, Nasum Ahmed

1st Test, Day 3 report: Jadeja, tailenders hand India decisive advantage on another rain-hit day

Riding on the back of strong performances from KL Rahul and lower-order batsmen, India bounced back from a disastrous phase on the second day’s play to take a decisive lead in the first innings. There was no stopping rain on the third day as well and England were 25/0 at the end of the day’s play, significantly behind India’s lead. England would have hoped for a greater return with the ball and they started on a brilliant note after Rishabh Pant was sent back to the pavilion very early in the piece. Rise and rise of Jadeja, the batsman India lost the big wicket of Pant at 145 runs and England’s first innings total of 183 appeared too far away. India had taken a big call of dropping Ashwin for an extra pacer and picked Jadeja more for his batting. It could not have been a better occasion for Jadeja to repay the faith by the team management and he started leaving balls around off stump to give Rahul comfort at the other end. Jadeja has had success in England before but all of those knocks have come in swashbuckling avatars and hence the team management would have been ecstatic at seeing him building an innings like a champion batsman. He put on a sixty run partnership with Rahul to take India past the 200-run mark and as soon as Anderson bounced back to send both Rahul and Shardul Thakur back to the pavilion, he switched himself back to the mode has been otherwise known for in international cricket. Between Shardul’s departure to his dismissal, the all-rounder hit some remarkable shots including one pickup shot off Anderson that went sailing over the long leg boundary. The eagerness to dictate terms to the England bowling lineup resulted in his downfall as Ollie Robinson proved his credentials as a bowler by making life tough for batsmen by bowling hard lengths. Indian tail wags, finally Indian tailenders have not had the best of times and their struggle with the bat have been there for many years now. At the same time, they face a lot of difficulties to wipe out the oppositions’ tail and it has made for a frustrating view of the Indian bowling attack. On the last tour of England in 2018, the highest aggregate by India’s 9th, 10th and 11th batsmen was 20and the issue was so problematic that India could not attain the guts to play four out and out pacers and included Sahrdul Thakur. However, all of that were to be put to rest by the Indian tailenders led by Jasprit Bumrah, who mimicked the mindset of the accomplished batsman by changing the approach of his batting with a very change in the situation. Bumrah has had to see Sam Curran thrashing his bowling partner for fun while batting with batsmen lower to him and he offered him a taste of his own medicine. He smashed the left armer for three consecutive boundaries, one of which went over the midwicket boundary when he pulled right out of Rohit Sharma’s school of pulling a ball. India’s last three added as many as 73 runs and the 95 runs lead established ow valuable were their contributions in taking India to an advanced position in the game. Robinson puts ban behind him Ollie Robinson walked into this game after serving a ban and an uncertain period where his career could well have been hampered. There was o impact of his recent past on his bowling though and he was the best enforcer for England although Anderson picked the biggest wicket of the Indian batting lineup. He was the one who explored the centre of the pitch when nothing was working for his partners to dismiss Rohit, and today it was him only who pegged India back by the wicket of Pant very early in the day. Again, it was him only who did not offer hittable lengths to Jadeja, who was looking to make good use of the freedom that batting with lower-order batsmen brought to him. His impressive bowling and a fifer were critical for England as they were suffering from an off-colour Stuart Broad on his home ground in Nottingham. England’s slippery fingers If England don’t improve their catching in the slips and also in general, there will be competitions between their batting department and fielding department as to what is their weakest department. Earlier Dom Sibley had dropped KL Rahul off Anderson which resulted in more and more pain for England and Joe Root compounded his misery by dropping another edge of the right-hander’ bat by himself. Then, James Anderson dropped Ravindra Jadeja while fielding at mid-off although that drop did not cost them so dearly. Looking ahead to 4th day England batsmen have their task cut out to fend off India’s four-man pace attack on the fourth-day pitch that will become damper and damper due to increasing rain. Some balls have started stopping on batsmen and it resulted in Pant’s dismissal on the hid day and they will have to be watchful for natural variations off the surface. There are fair chances of rain stoppages on the fourth day as well and their task will be made difficult by constant on and off due to intermittent rain breaks. India, on the other hand, will back their bowlers to dismiss England on the fourth day itself if weather permits and then will set their eyes on a target to take a 1-0 lead in the series. The game can go anywhere, but in all sense of likelihood, only Joe Root and rain stand in between an Indian win and a draw in Nottingham, and the script will be far more clear by the end of the fourth day’s play.