Cricket, Stats and Opinion: India tour of England in 2021.

Test match is arguable the toughest format of the game and one of the most interesting formats too. A lot of thought is given to the selection of athlete(s) for the Playing XI for a given Test Series and each Test Match, to be precise. If it is a five-matches series in England, the stakes are significantly higher than usual. We all are enthusiasts and fanatics of sports (in this case Cricket), and we can feel the difference when it comes down to playing a sport for 5-days and when the game itself resembles our day-to-day lives.

Doesn’t it? You start fresh every day, with new and more exciting challenges (such as weather), new opportunities, new setbacks, new record-breaking performances. Irrelevant of the Nation or the Team you represent. Harsha Bhogle kind of sums it up quite nicely for us, “I like many things about Test Match Cricket. We go through difficult phases in life. Maybe, financially we are not that well-off. The fact that you play time. But we ride the difficult times in search for the better times thereafter. You don’t give up in the difficult times. Test Cricket in exactly like that”.

Strategies are different for each day, each session, and for each athlete of the opponent team. The suspense of what will happen in the next hour (maybe the first and last hour of the day), next session, the next over is what keeps the interest running through the blood vessels of players sitting in the dugout, alongside the fans and supporters (including commentators and media professionals) sitting in the stands or watching the match on television or OTT platforms. Eventually, some moments give us goosebumps, don't they?

Speaking of the interest and suspense, the International Cricket Council (ICC) had to heavily invest in rejuvenating Test Match Cricket - as the ICC would like to call it the, quote “long-awaited boost” factor in the last 5-6 years in terms of ideas, time, energy, planning, execution, and most importantly monetary aspects. The stakes of supervising Test Matches are high in terms of operational costs since the broadcasting revenues are relatively lower, gate revenues are not so charming. Therefore, revenue generation was a bit of a concern for the global governing body. Hence, planning and organizing the contest as a two-year WTC contest as part of their flagship Future Tour Program (FTP) 2018-2023 for the 1st cycle, with 9-teams, 27-series, and 72 Test Matches (initially as of the launch date ). The 2nd cycle of the World Test Championship (WTC), i.e., 2021-2023 is set to start in Jun 2021 till 30th Apr 2023, and for India, it probably starts in England on 4th Aug until 14th Sep 2021.

Words of Peter Lalor quote, “There are so many little narratives in Test Cricket, in terms of where we are in life, in our careers and the overall contest", from the perspective of each player, and the Team as a whole. This thought process is also applicable to the fans and supporters in every sport, not just Cricket. I love the Test Match format primarily because of the thinking that goes behind team formation, preparation, training, and being together as a team for the whole tour. Most importantly, I thought about my life’s journey for the next 35-40 years recently while thinking the Test Cricket way.

?- No. of overs of the given day are the no. of years I will hopefully live, probably 35-years.

?- Each over (6 legal deliveries) represent the days I will work hard to ensure I am enhancing, learning, and reiterating my skill sets to accomplish the given tasks in the most professional way possible. That means I have total of 76,650 days left to make the most of it.

?- Each wicket I give away (bowled, caught, or run out) is the day I have to learn something new and redirect myself to get better and not repeat the same mistake.

?- All setbacks (bouncer or yorker bowled, a bad day in the field, catches dropped) are meant to happen. All I can do is to learn from them and not make the same mistakes again.

?- Every catch or wicket I take, convert singles in doubles are the days I have to cherish and appreciate myself as I made a little contribution towards the winning factor of my team.

?- Even if I might not be part of the Playing-XI or the traveling squad, I am still responsible for the overall success/failure of the team, and it reflects the fact of staying together and working together for a common goal, i.e., to try and become the best in the world.

?- Start fresh the next day, as each day has different conditions and probabilities. All I need to do is to identify and recognize the opportunities. Grab them with both hands and capitalize for brownie points.?

?- One day at a time, one session at a time, one ball at a time, i.e., play small but aim big.

Quoting Harsha Bhogle (again) - In sports, you win - you lose in front of everybody. Now speaking of winning or losing, Team India are front runners in all 3-formats of the game for the past 4-5 years. Experts or pundits of the game may or may not agree with the fact but, losing an ICC event, like the World Cups or WTC, does not justify the overall performances if they have been performing significantly well in home and away matches, against what we know as pillars of International Cricket , i.e., India, England, Australia, and now New Zealand. Now, primarily because of the world-class performances at ICC CWC 2019 and WTC 2021, also because ICC Board has a new Chairman and after all Sports, as a tool is also about developing and maintaining diplomatic relationships (to some extent political).

Keeping aside diplomatic and political debates, let us focus on Test Cricket. In the last 32-years, i.e., b/w 1990-2021 we have witnessed a total of 1317 Test Matches (Figure 1.) already. India and England have faced each other 50-times in these 32-years, i.e., ~3.8% of the Total Test Matches (TTM) played since 1990 (Figure 2.). Both India and England have won 18-matches each, i.e., 14-home matches and 4-away matches (Figure 3.), respectively. A total of 14-matches ended up being drawn in the past 32-years, i.e., 8-matches in England and 6-matches in India.

As we come closer to a battle of 5-matches series between India and England, which will be going on till mid-September of 2021, we are realistically looking at witnessing breathtaking performances from both sides, i.e., England and India. However, India has this typical sports performance mentality as in when they lose a crucial match early in the series or before the series (like the ICC WTC 2021 against a deserving and disciplined side New Zealand), they tend to get motivated (aka negative extrinsic motivation) to go out there and win the whole series. It is nothing new for Indian fans to witness because it happened earlier this year vs. England in India and back in foreign conditions, i.e., Australia.

Considering the extrinsic motivation, Team India is waiting to take advantage of the conditions and find resources to start on the winning side, within the legal boundaries of the spirit of sportsmanship. For that, selection of the Playing-XI will be a crucial factor, especially after Shubman Gill ruled out of the whole series due to a leg injury. The fact of starting fresh every day, identifying opportunities, grabbing them, and capitalizing will come into play for many players in the 20-member Indian Squad. In my opinion, it is important to carve out a few options for the list of probable Playing-XI and take it from there based on performance, attitude, and contribution for overall enhancement of the team environment.

All options (Figure 4.) for Probable Playing XI, provide Team India a reliable, stable, and calm performance on the field for the 5-days of each test match. For instance, Option 1 has all the big names of Indian Cricket except Cheteshwar Pujara, Rishabh Pant, Jasprit Bumrah, and Ravichandran Ashwin, primarily to ensure a culture of performing and encouragement gets engraved within the group/squad. Even though Cheteshwar Pujara is currently playing just the Test Matches, that does not guarantee him a permanent spot (also Option 3) in the Playing XI (maybe he needs a bit of time to redirect himself and focus on the upcoming games) while giving a chance to Wriddhiman Saha or Hanuma Vihari who have not played a match for quite some time. It is also helpful to have two left-handed batsmen in the XI considering the ground dimensions and the respective angles that have to be carefully studied for each day or the match, further considering the outfield condition and weather.

Option 2 seems to have a bit more aggressive approach. Rishabh Pant opens the innings with Rohit Sharma, so we test his skills and patience with the brand-new Dukes ball. In the process, allow Mayank Agarwal ample amount of time to watch and observe how the game is building up through the course of the innings (unlike opening spot, where you have significantly less time to judge the nature of the pitch, specifically if you are batting first against a strong bowling attack). It also reflects the fact that Team India is critically focused and determined to win and is always prepared to take on any bowling attack, whomsoever it is. Therefore, to ensure optimum performance, all pillars are aligned one after the other to provide stability and confidence to the squad as a whole.

Option 3 is a more conservative approach. Big names with a few relatively young champions, consistently proved their worth on multiple occasions in the recent past. Washington Sundar gives you a unique opportunity as a right-handed spin-bowler but a left-handed traditional style batsman (remember his performance in Australia and India). Umesh Yadav gives you sheer pace, consistent swing, and bounce on varied tracks in England. Furthermore, he can contribute with his aggressive batting style as well to score quick runs when need. KL Rahul can keep the wickets and is a destructive batsman, both the opener and a middle-order team player.

Option 4 seems to be aggressive (again) but ensures stability and confidence build up within the squad, which is what Test Match is all about. It is a good time for Team India to “test” Ajinkya Rahane’s captaincy yet again, but this time in English conditions and allow Cheteshwar Pujara to step up for pressure handling roles and responsibilities since the dynamics with a Captain and Vice-Captain are very different. Each player also has a personality of their own, which the senior leaders should also take into account (I am confident they obviously do). KL Rahul and Hanuma Vihari can further lighten the load by performing at the top, and ensure India gets a good start so the middle-order can further score brownie points and attain a strong position right from the start, so the bowlers can do their jobs and get India to win matches consistently. All as one unit.

Option 5 is an outcome of the trial-and-error method for instances when things aren’t working out for India in the series. So, allowing young guns to show their magic yet again while ensuring senior players are there to provide overall direction and support based on their experience and skills to handle typical pressure situations and probably share how to stay calm and focus on the plans discussed in the team meetings and stick to them when things are not in our favor just yet. Having relatively younger athletes gives the team different energy in the field, and they don’t just give up on the ball. Instead, they will try to stop it and covert the dull moments into opportunities with their exceptional on-the-field awareness.

Being a fan and admirer of the sport (especially Test Cricket), even we can contribute towards the success of our favorite team(s) by sharing our views and opinion about the selection of players for each series while maintaining discipline and decorum of being a supporter of the game. It is highly recommended to follow the rules and regulations all the time. These athletes represent our Nation (both India and England), and there is no point in being disrespectful to them or their methods of leading the respective contingent. If we have an opinion, we have to find more productive and sensible ways for sharing it with the governing bodies, administrations, athletes, sponsors, or our fellow fanatics instead, of ranting (on) about reasons (mostly irrelevant), and forcefully prove the point.

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