It’s 1-1. The series has reached parity after Joe Root guided England towards a hard-fought 4-wicket victory over India at Cardiff. The former Three Lions skipper was the difference-maker between the two sides at Sophie Gardens. Although India squandered the opportunity by collapsing from 178/3 to 233/10, Root stood between India and victory.
Joe Root stands tall
The 35-year-old fell one short of registering his 21st ODI hundred, extending his record as England’s most prolific batter in 50-over cricket. No other English batter crossed the 30-run mark in the 234-run chase, and then there was Root, who remained unbeaten on 99. He was the anchor England needed, and he delivered.
It wasn’t really a surprise. Root has always fancied playing against India. He has scored 13 Test hundreds against India. That’s more than 25% of his total centuries, 41, in the format. One can’t forget that Root remained unbeaten on 76 in the previous ODI. He’s always there in the fight when the opposition is India.
That’s despite him having a negative match-up against Jasprit Bumrah, who really troubled him at Cardiff, but he weathered the storm and took England home. Root was one of the two major reasons behind India losing to England. The other one was India’s selection.
All-rounders leave India neither here nor there
Despite realising that Shivam Dube and Washington Sundar aren’t wicket-takers, the management stuck with them. They combined for 40/1 in 10 overs in Birmingham. That isn’t bad. But they weren’t really threatening. The only reason they didn’t go for runs was that England was 80/5 and in the rebuilding phase.
You won’t have a side 5 down inside 20 overs every game. Plus, Sundar and Dube aren’t proper 10-over bowlers. Sundar might be an all-rounder in Test cricket, but that isn’t the case in white-ball cricket. Meanwhile, Dube, at best, is a part-timer. His bowling has improved, but he can’t be among your 6 best bowlers.
Look at England. They had Liam Dawson as their 6th bowler in the last game. Today, it was Will Jacks for them. There’s no comparison. To make matters worse, Sundar injured himself while batting. Sundar and Dube combined scored 3 runs in 10 balls. The latter didn’t even get a chance to bat in the last game.
Sundar’s injury meant India had 4 bowlers and Dube, who had to bowl 10 overs. That’s not what you want. Although he ended up taking a wicket, he was the least threatening bowler. That’s the entire issue. When you play Sundar and Dube, you have neither one as a frontline batter since they are batting at numbers six to eight and don’t possess wicket-taking ability in the middle overs.
You neither have one full batter nor one full bowler. You are stuck somewhere in between. But that’s India’s own doing. They are at fault for losing, and not just because of their performance during the match but before it.
