As the India England affair goes on and on at the Trent Bridge and with India comfortably seated in the driver’s seat, thanks to a solid display with the ball from Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammad Shami and a concrete showdown from KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma with the willow.
However, as India’s first innings is underway, a few questions have been very prevalent and it isn’t just something that is new. India’s batting in the longest format of the sport has come under heavy fire after repeated failures.
Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane are the ones who have failed to live up to the heightened expectations that have been heaped on them.
If there has been one man who has spearheaded India’s batting consistently under all kinds of pressure, it has been Rishabh Pant. Spanning from Australia to the World Test Championship, the southpaw has left an extremely impressive legacy in the recent times.
However, fans have questioned that has Pant’s style been actually effective, considering his extreme aggression which has backfired in certain ocassions.
Freddie Wilde, a renowned cricket analayst at CricViz took to Twitter and posted something extremely fascinating. His tweet read, “The fortunes of Pant & Pujara in this series will be a battleground for the contrasting ways of batting in challenging conditions. Defend, survive & endure & hope to find a way to score runs; or dash, thrash & attack & hope to survive long enough for it to be relevant. #ENGvIND”
The fortunes of Pant & Pujara in this series will be a battleground for the contrasting ways of batting in challenging conditions. Defend, survive & endure & hope to find a way to score runs; or dash, thrash & attack & hope to survive long enough for it to be relevant. #ENGvIND
— Freddie Wilde (@fwildecricket) August 5, 2021
Taking a quick look at the dismissals of both the batters, Pujara was removed, thanks to a soft dismissal as Anderson got better of him. He departed for 4 from 16 balls.
Pant lost his scalp to Ollie Robinson while it was Bairstow to take a safe catch. He smashed a quickfire 25 from 20 balls.
Now it is known to everyone that batting in England isn’t easy at all. It needs a lot more guts and control to navigate the perplexing pitches of England.
The question is simple. With both the strategies being displayed at Trent Bridge, which one would be India’s most effective strategy to push away agony of 13 years, only time will tell.
At the time of writing, India is currently stationed at 191 for 5 with KL Rahul still unbeaten on 77.
