India toured England in 2014 and after four years they are now touring in 2018. Here’s a little analysis as to where we were then and were we are now.
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When India travelled to England in 2014, as per the norm, they played a 5 match ODI series and one-off T20I. After getting a sound drubbing in the 5 test match series as India lost 3-1, the caravan moved to the ODI series.
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The first match was called off due to rain without a ball being bowled. However, India bounced back strongly in the coming matches to win three ODI on the trot as England won the last match in the form of the one off T20I. England defeated India by 3 runs in what was a very close match.
Indian T20I squads
2014
Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane, Virat Kohli, Ambati Rayudu, Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Karn Sharma, Mohit Sharma, Mohammed Shami, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Sanju Samson, Dhawal Kulkarni and Stuart Binny.
2018
Virat Kohli (Captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Suresh Raina, Manish Pandey, MS Dhoni (WK), Dinesh Karthik, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Washington Sundar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, Siddarth Kaul and Umesh Yadav.
Different looking side
We then had a relatively young side with the likes of Ajinkya Rahane, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammed Shami, Mohit Sharma, Dhawal Kulkarni, Sanju Samson, Stuart Binny and Karn Sharma in the ODI team.
Now 4 years later, neither of these faces find a place in the team. However many players like Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni and Bhuvneshwar Kumar have retained their spot in the side. Naturally they are much more experienced and have a better understanding of their craft. Hence they stand at a better place to deliver for the team.
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Indian ODI squads
2014
Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Ajinkya Rahane, MS Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Mohit Sharma, Ambati Rayudu, Umesh Yadav, Dhawal Kulkarni, Sanju Samson, Stuart Binny and Karn Sharma.
2018
Virat Kohli(Captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Lokesh Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, MS Dhoni, Dinesh Karthik, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, Siddarth Kaul, Umesh Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Suresh Raina.
These were the days when legendary pacer James Anderson played for the English side and the team had a talented spinner in James Tredwell. However, now England seem to be lacking a spinner.
Spin to win
England’s batting may be firing on all guns in the five match ODI series against Australia as they managed to score the highest ODI total. 300 runs are being scored for fun but batsman like Alex Hales, Jason Roy and Jonny Bairstow will in all probability struggle against wrist spinners. Kuldeep and Chahal will not be easy to get by.
As they will try to control the game in the middle overs, it is very likely that England would not be able to score freely against them. Hence we may not get to see such high scoring games. The current 5 match series between England and Australia has shocked people all around the globe.
The ease with which 300 and 400 runs are being scored is really jaw-dropping .However, these high scoring games will turn out to be in favour of India as Indian batsmen are more than potent of both scoring these runs and changing them down.
The likes of Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni, Dinesh Karthik and Hardik Pandya can decimate any bowling attack in the world. All the same, India has a good crop of bowlers this time which can restrict the opposition from doing the same.
Rejuvenated and pedigreed pace battery
In 2014, India’s pace attack comprised of Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Mohit Sharma, Ambati Rayudu, Umesh Yadav and Dhawal Kulkarni. While Shami and Umesh were a little quick, they were not at all accurate. They sprayed the ball in all directions and hence lacked consistency.
Other bowlers lacked pace and though skillful did not have the penetration to impact. We can see for ourselves that follows like Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Umesh Yadav have come a long way since 2014. It would be quite sensible to predict that they would come up with far better performances than what they did four years ago.
