Fourth Test: Are Gambhir & Co. losing the plot at a key stage of the series?

A dominant England batting performance on the third day of the Old Trafford Test has now pushed India on to the back foot — making a win for the hosts or a draw the only two possibilities. While the bowlers, barring Washington Sundar, had an off day, it’s time the team management also faced some of the music for letting the initiative slip throughout the entire series.

Yes, one could question a number of young captain Shubman Gill’s decisions; but isn’t it part of high-profile head coach Gautam Gambhir’s prerogative to course-correct in such cases? Or Morne Morkel, for that matter, as the South African bowling coach has failed to bring about any qualitative change in the pace bowling pack over the past year, just relying on Jasprit Bumrah to help tide over the challenging decisions every time.

The statistics from 25 July, Friday, proved somewhat embarrassing for the Indian bowlers: for the first time since 2016, the opposition has scored over 500 runs against India.

Test cricket will, of course, see the occasional fruitless day for the bowlers, but the snub to Kuldeep Yadav for the fourth Test in a row — and on a dry surface this time — simply defies logic. It’s not a state secret that Englishmen don’t play wrist-spinners well. To still ignore Yadav repeatedly for what Ravi Ashwin calls an “obsession with batting depth” shows that Gambhir has failed to walk the talk in his approach to this series.

Speaking on his YouTube channel, the retired off-spin great argued that the modern game no longer rewards the extra 20–30 runs from tailenders as pitches have flattened out and bowling firepower is more crucial.

“If somebody would have told me that Kuldeep Yadav will not be playing any part in the first four Tests, I would have been very, very surprised. Unfortunately, it is our obsession with batting and looking for those 20–30 extra runs... Gone are those days in England, that advantage of 20–30 runs is gone. If your No.7 makes 30 runs and your No.8 makes 30 runs, you have extra 60 runs. Earlier that 60 runs used to be very useful, because bowlers used to get help from the pitch,’’ Ashwin, who has strong views on the game, observed.

The recently retired spinning all-rounder knows where it hurts, as in series after series overseas, especially in England, Ashwin had to warm the benches with Ravindra Jadeja being the lone spinner in the playing XI – again for the latter’s batting prowess. The strategy of opting for a seaming all-rounder like Shardul Thakur or the now injured Nitish Kumar Reddy, instead an attacking bowler like Kuldeep, reflects a defensive mindset in the end.

While any Test team aspiring to be the best has to believe in playing to their strengths, India’s approach both on and off the ground has looked muddled so far. The recent throw of the dice, betting on Anshul Kamboj — fast-tracked into Test cricket after just one promising season of domestic cricket and the IPL — was another gamble on the part of Gambhir and the selectors that backfired.

The 24-year-old from Haryana, who hit the headlines with a 10-wicket haul against Kerala in one innings in the last Ranji season, clocked a sharp drop in his pace to make any impact against the marauding England batters. A pace of 125–130 kmph with the new ball, despite a control to hit the right areas, proved the perfect fodder for Joe Root & Co — resulting in a wave of memes on social media.

Add to this some more inexplicable moves — like calling up Washington Sundar to bowl as late as the 69^th over of the England innings (and him immediately responding with two quick wickets). The tall off-spinner, who had a four-wicket haul at the Lord’s, was the best bowler on view on a day of hard toil and now has figures of 19-4-57-2.

A young skipper like Gill will need all the support he can get at this stage — and this is where Gambhir should show his match-reading sense in the longer format as well.

For a year now, the latter has enjoyed all the immunity he wanted in the guise of a so-called transition. Well, where are the results?