Yesterday’s decisive ODI might have ended in defeat, but at least it was an entertaining contest. A 2-3 defeat in India isn’t a bad result considering that Root, Morgan and Archer were missing. However, it’s a bit alarming that we squandered so many excellent starts. What’s going on? Here’s Abhijato with a tongue in cheek perspective … The England white-ball team might have come away empty-handed from both the series they played in India, but their approach...
Today new writer Ollie Phillips argues that England’s team selection during the T20 series displayed worrying signs of hubris. Winning the World Cup in 2019 capped off an incredible turnaround of England’s white-ball fortunes. It was a watershed moment for the sport in this country and one that England fans will never forget – bar the odd moment made hazy by one libation too many. Eoin Morgan’s team have become a tremendous limited-overs outfit, and they displayed some of their...
What’s the toughest job in cricket? BattingBowlingFieldingBeing Moeen Ali The answer’s none of the above. Well, at least until the team management puts in a request for Moeen Ali to become a professional umpire as well. Because if Thursday’s 4th T20I had anything to teach us, it was that only the most desperate apply for an umpiring gig. Even trying to extract spin out of English surfaces in the middle of April is an easier task than trying to make peace with dubious replays. The latter’s...
Us Indians are infatuated with pace. It’s just not about the cricket either. We’re always looking for ways to get done with things done without breaking a sweat—a task even tougher to accomplish when you factor in the humidity of the subcontinent. But it suits us better when the going gets slow. The country’s bureaucracy has a fascination for delaying proceedings. It’s not always about corruption or incompetence either. It’s a reflection of our ethos. If cricket’s a reflection of society, then...
Here’s Abhijato with his take on yesterday’s T20 from an Indian perspective. As the perspective of most England fans would’ve been “there was a T20 on yesterday? Sorry I was watching the footie”, I think we can forgive him for celebrating the arrival of more fresh Indian talent. They just keep producing them … “Casual vacancy means a vacancy occurring otherwise than by efflux of time.” – Someone long before J.K. Rowling wrote a semi-serious novel...
It’s not often that a T20 chase is treated as an afterthought. But the batting performance of the Englishmen was a foregone conclusion long before they even came out to bat at the Motera yesterday. The Indians have seldom been guilty of not being able to stabilise an innings while looking to be intentful. The skipper has often rued his side’s conservatism in Test cricket, and this sentiment seemed to carry itself over to the press conferences in the build-up to the T20 series against England...
