It was supposed to be a treat. An icing to what India had done at the Lords’.
Now, Lord’s win was more than just a dream. It was something India can always go back to whenever they had a low day. The Test that India would always be proud of. India had MCG as well as Gabba to show off from Australia.
Headingley was supposed to be India’s Gabba. Or MCG. They would have taken any of that unless the result went our way. Unfortunately, the script for the Headingley showdown turned out to be the one they had in Adelaide or at least closer to that. Either way, it was a shutdown, a shamble. The impact was the same.
Anderson anger on day one along with Overton was supposed to be the fuel to the fire that was burning during the Lords’ Test, but it turned out to be the alarm, a wake-up call for the Indian batting order that seemed absent. There could be a point where one could’ve thought whether the team had batted on a different surface because, hey, Root was literally having a romance in the middle.
Root’s romance is more of a habit now, but the team saw Malan eating moving deliveries for breakfast. Those deliveries destroyed not only the batting order of India but also the desire that came with it. Burns and Hameed might not have produced the perfect innings, but they seemed as if having an impromptu party at the middle. A party that saw Overton show up for minutes during the end. Probably, he was the one who stayed up until the end to clean up the Indian tail at the end.
When Rohit Sharma came to bat, he seemed like a different man. Not the one who humiliates himself by throwing his wicket away after getting the start. Not the one who would slip in the paper of plans to getting him out to the opponent.
He was a different man so much so that, there was a little bit of hope when he got to his fifty but an umpire’s call sent him home. One might not blame Rohit for getting out this way but definitely, it was his fault to show the glimpse of hope.
If Rohit did that, Pujara, the human punching bag, wasn’t surviving this time. He was scoring runs and transferring pressure onto the opponent. It seems like a while since he had played an innings like this. He wasn’t trying too hard but was making the bowlers bend their back to bowl according to his plan.
The next day was supposed to be even more special. He was just nine runs short of his first ton since 2019. He was almost there but that was all he could get at the Headingley as Robinson tricked him to leave a delivery that came in to meet his pad in a midway.
Nervy early start for Kohli as he was still waiting for his first hundred since you know in how many innings. It would have been perfect innings if he had got it here but he could make it only to the halfway. Robinson had fun that day. However, Kohli was in the mood to steal that from him. At first, a whip through the midwicket took him to his first fifty since February. And then the diving mid-on had to watch the ball going past him. This four was from a more confident Kohli, something we didn’t see in the whole match.
However, it turned out to be the set-up from Robinson, who bowled the length ball at the place where Kohli had troubles. Kohli gave in this time. This time, Robinson came in between the Kohli-Anderson plot. The plot provided the high-octane battle. In fact, even before his dismissal, there was an over that stood out. A thrilling review saved Kohli from almost the same delivery that Robinson had in his arms. Never mind, England would take it.
Ajinkya Rahane was next up. He went down for a classy Anderson dismissal. You know the set-up, the plot. After all, that was his 400th wicket at home.
When one was trying to wrap their head around Rahane’s dismissal, Pant played a couple of advancing hoicks. He ran towards the bowler for literally no use. Then, ended up giving an easy catch to Overton.
Minutes later, Moeen Ali also wanted the piece of the Indian batting order. While the Indian batting order was giving them away for free to everyone, Moeen Ali bothered the batters. He brought a beauty to dismiss Shami. Wide outside off, drifting a further before turning to hit the stumps.
Ishant Sharma was on the other side of a five-wicket haul as he found himself in an awkward position off Robinson delivery. Jadeja then was having a bit of fun in the middle. Five boundaries and a six later, Jadeja edged a delivery while trying to defend the one that was outside off-stump. Siraj was the final man to have a sad walk back to the Headingley pavilion as Overton ended India’s desire to avoid the follow on. The tables had turned during the long trip from Lords’ to Headingley now.
India are on their lowest place now. Talks all around. Every single social media warrior are wearing the judgemental hat. Looking down, writing the team off. There are talks about replacing literally every single player in the team.
Because the scoreboard tells you a story. Lords’ one was different but it’s not a happy one this time. The intent, application and everything in between will be the talk now until we move to the Oval. There is so much left to be played. After all, this is a war.
