India vs England: Barring Virat Kohli, India’s top-order batsmen displayed complete lack of situational awareness in 1st Test

England have discovered a real gem in Sam Curran. Not just for the volume of runs scored or wickets taken (24 and 63; 4 for 74 and 1 for 18), but for sheer situational awareness and the ownership he displayed in tense, nail-biting moments of the first Test. It is easy for anybody, let alone a 20-year-old youngster, to be overawed by the situation. Older, hardened and more experienced cricketers had failed to push back the opposition’s challenge. But here he was, a rookie in only his second Test, repeatedly rising to the occasion in awesome fashion. [caption id=“attachment_4895771” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Ajinkya Rahane is caught out by England’s Keaton Jennings. Reuters[/caption] Curran’s definitive moment of reckoning came in the 2nd innings when England were tottering at 87 for 7. He opted to stand up and be counted. He smashed a quick-fire 63 in 65 balls and stitched together small but invaluable partnerships for two of the last three wickets with Adil Rashid (48 runs for 8th wicket) and Stuart Broad (41 runs for 9th wicket) to pull England out of a deep hole. Earlier, in India’s first innings, when the openers, having weathered the new ball spell of Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad, were coasting at 50 without loss, it was Curran’s triple strike that accounted for Murali Vijay, KL Rahul and Shikhar Dhawan and wrested back the initiative. These situation-altering bursts of excellence called for rare awareness of the game situation and ability to rise to its requirements. It brought out everything that manifests in a top-class cricketer: cricketing intelligence, vigilance, attention, awareness of stress, compatibility and ownership. “I can’t take it in,” he said during the post-match presentation. “It feels like I’m dreaming. I’m sure I’ll sleep well tonight as I didn’t sleep last night!” But he had already shown that he can and will take it whenever the opposition provides a toe-hold. A similar awareness of game situation was eminently lacking in India’s top-order batsmen, KL Rahul, Ajinkya Rahane, Shikhar Dhawan, Murali Vijay and Dinesh Karthik. They might score tons of runs in other matches but when the chips were down in the crucial series opener they were outsmarted by a kid playing only his second Test. Skipper Virat Kohli virtually spelt it out to them in public: “As top-order batsmen, we need to apply ourselves better. Just look at ourselves in the mirror. There’s no hiding from this game. Whenever you step onto the field, whatever you feel will come out in no time.” What did come out was their stress, fear, apprehension and inadequacy. None of them showed any situational awareness and, in fact, their approach and choice of shots were instrumental in the defeat. They just had to take a leaf out of a fired-up Kohli’s book and work out their strengths in relation to the pitch, conditions and opponents’ strategy. Kohli, for instance, was so aware of the threat posed by Anderson that he took just 18 runs off the 74 balls he faced from him. The rest of his runs came freely off other bowlers. Kohli’s approach and attitude underlined batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar’s speech on situational awareness to a group of youngsters some time back: “You have to see what the bowler is bowling and what his strengths are, weaknesses are. What are the areas where you can score off that particular bowler. There are many factors like the kind of surface you are playing on, the kind of field setting. You have got to have situational awareness. Once you have that, you respond to the situation according to the bowler and the opposition." Certainly this situational awareness was lacking in the main batsmen. In fact, Kohli had to draw attention to the efforts of tail-enders Ishant Sharma and Umesh Yadav. “There’s a lot to learn from them. Their approach to batting makes you feel as top-order batsmen you need to apply yourself better.” There are no two opinions that Rahul, Rahane, Dhawan, Karthik and Vijay let the team down very badly. Their understanding of the situation and ability to rise to the occasion was zilch. Decades ago in his magnum opus, The Art of Batting, the great Donald Bradman wrote magnificently on responsibility, vigilance, awareness, ownership, focus and execution. It’s the last word and India’s top order would do well to chew on it: “There is probably a greater premium on temperament for a batsman than for any player in any branch of sport. The batsman is not allowed one error. Is it any wonder temperament plays such an enormous part in batting? I always liked the player who was extremely conscious of his responsibility and all that went with it, who was really very thrilled under the surface, but who kept his emotions under control, the sort of player who would find it difficult to sleep or eat before a Test. That type usually possesses a high degree of nervous energy, which comes into play at the critical hour. He may be anxious on the morning of the match, but once he sets foot on the arena, he is in full command of himself and his reflexes are quick. This man will play better in a Test than any other match. He is the man for the occasion.”