History Suggests England Will Be in Spin Again

Looking to the past is a good way to predict the future, for that’s where you find hidden (or at times, blatant) signs of what to expect. Therefore it won’t be a bad idea for India and England to look at Vizag and Rajkot for both an inspiration and a reality check. In both games, the team that won the toss dominated the match.

The pitch in Rajkot was a bit too flat and is why England couldn’t pull off a result. The pitch in Vizag, however, deteriorated at a much faster rate, not alarmingly fast though, and therefore we had a result on the fifth afternoon.

India’s success story in the recent past is built around a simple theory – put enough runs on the board to allow Ashwin and Co. to weave their magic. The fact that Kohli has lost only one toss at home has made his team’s job a little easier. In addition to his luck with the toss, his form with the bat has helped the team battle the tough phases.

Vizag’s debut as a Test venue saw India drawing first blood in this five-Test series but for me the highlights of the match lay somewhere else and not in the final result.

Broad’s cutters

On the fourth morning of the Test, Broad bowled an inspired spell of high quality seam bowling. He was visibly in pain (limping his way back to the top of the run-up) and still put in his heart and soul in a spell for the ages.

Indian conditions can be quite harsh on the fast bowlers because of lack of help on the pitch (both in terms of grass and moisture) and the hot/humid weather that drains you quickly, and that’s why Broad’s spell will be remembered for a long time.