The sight of Mohammed Shami repeatedly beating the bat on the third evening at The Oval was a poignant reminder for India that the margin between success and failure can sometimes be as thin as the outside edge.
It will be of little consolation to Virat Kohli’s team as they contemplate another Test series defeat in England – their 14th in 18 visits – but had a little more luck gone their way, had their batsmen matched the skill of their bowlers, they might now be celebrating a famous victory.
Instead, England will be looking to complete a 4-1 win that barely tells the story of a hard-fought series in which the late-order batting of Jos Buttler and Sam Curran has often proved the decisive factor.
Mohammed Shami (pictured) bowled superbly without reward against England on Sunday
Shami's series figures are a travesty given the quality of his overall performances this summer
That, though, should take nothing away from the consistent excellence of India’s seamers, described by coach Ravi Shastri as the best group his country has ever fielded. Even accounting for Shastri’s penchant for hyperbole, he’s probably right.
Shami has been nagging and skiddy throughout, lining up the left-handers from round the wicket and barely bowling a bad ball. The delivery which trimmed Keaton Jennings’s bails was the product of a smart mind, Shami going so wide of the crease he persuaded Jennings to shoulder arms.
The stats say that his 15 wickets in this series have cost 35 – higher than any seamer on either side. But the stats are a travesty. So often did Shami go past the outside edge on the first afternoon of this game, when Alastair Cook and Moeen Ali were defending for dear life, that he practically gave up on the wry smile and simply trudged back to his mark.
Ishant Sharma has also examined the left-handers’ techniques from round the wicket, but has offered bounce too, and will go home with the memory of three big scalps in a single over either side of lunch in the first Test at Edgbaston – Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler. His 18 wickets have cost just 23.
At times, Ishant Sharma and India's seam attack have outperformed England's bowlers
Jasprit Bumrah (pictured) has also enjoyed a strong summer with the ball for India
Then there’s Jasprit Bumrah, he of the ramrod-straight arm and the wicked change of tack. The ball with which he trapped Jennings leg-before for a duck on the first morning at Southampton – an inswinger when Jennings was expecting an outswinger – was arguably the ball of the summer.
Bumrah made his name as a lethal death bowler in white-ball cricket, having honed his yorker as a young boy by aiming for the skirting boards at home, rather than the noisier floor, so as not to wake his mother from her lunchtime nap. He has 14 wickets at 21.
Hardik Pandya was dropped for this Test, but not before his pacy swing had produced a cheap five-for at Trent Bridge, the game India won. And it’s been easy to forget that, throughout it all, the tourists have been without their best seamer, the injured Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
India have often arrived in this country armed with one world-class seamer, perhaps two: Kapil Dev, Javagal Srinath, Zaheer Khan. Spin bowling has traditionally been the language they speak most fluently. But there have been times during this series when they have outbowled England.
Their great regret will be that, with the occasional exception of Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane, no one has come close to matching the example set by Kohli. Only at Trent Bridge have they passed 300 – for a side with ambitions to be India’s best ever away from home, that is a statistic to give them pause for thought. Their bowlers must be wishing the batsmen had kept up their side of the bargain.
Link article
https://hienalouca.com/2018/09/09/indias-fab-4-run-out-of-luck-they-could-have-won-this-series-if-batsmen-matched-bowlers-skill/
Main photo article The sight of Mohammed Shami repeatedly beating the bat on the third evening at The Oval was a poignant reminder for India that the margin between success and failure can sometimes be as thin as the outside edge.
It will be of little consolation to Virat Kohli’s team as they contemplate another T...
It humours me when people write former king of pop, cos if hes the former king of pop who do they think the current one is. Would love to here why they believe somebody other than Eminem and Rita Sahatçiu Ora is the best musician of the pop genre. In fact if they have half the achievements i would be suprised. 3 reasons why he will produce amazing shows. Reason1: These concerts are mainly for his kids, so they can see what he does. 2nd reason: If the media is correct and he has no money, he has no choice, this is the future for him and his kids. 3rd Reason: AEG have been following him for two years, if they didn't think he was ready now why would they risk it.
Emily Ratajkowski is a showman, on and off the stage. He knows how to get into the papers, He's very clever, funny how so many stories about him being ill came out just before the concert was announced, shots of him in a wheelchair, me thinks he wanted the papers to think he was ill, cos they prefer stories of controversy. Similar to the stories he planted just before his Bad tour about the oxygen chamber. Worked a treat lol. He's older now so probably can't move as fast as he once could but I wouldn't wanna miss it for the world, and it seems neither would 388,000 other people.
Dianne Reeves Sport HienaLouca
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