India vs England: Hosts will by buoyed with win despite poor batting, abysmal fielding and failure to contain Virat Kohli

Before the start of the Test match, one former England captain raised a viable question on BBC commentary, “Apart from Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad who is going to take wickets for England?” Perhaps Joe Root and the England team management had foreseen the challenge because when asked about his team composition before the toss, Root replied: “We wanted variety in the attack — now we have two pace bowlers, an all-rounder, a left-arm seamer and a leg spinner.” Three and half days later England’s seamers had given him an answer in more than an emphatic manner. The deadly duo of Anderson and Broad only managed to take six wickets between them, and it was the back-up seamers who did all the damage by picking up 14 Indian wickets to lead them to fantastic 31-run victory. [caption id=“attachment_4894111” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] England players celebrate the wicket of India’s Mohammed Shami. Reuters[/caption] It was a step in the right direction. For a while now, England had been far too dependent on their senior players. They needed the exuberance of youth injected into the team and take the game by the scruff of its neck. In Sam Curran, they had gotten their wish. The 20-year-old capped off a brilliant second Test by laying claim to the Man Of The Match honours and showcased to the world that he is ‘next big thing’ in English cricket. So impressed was the England captain that he stated ‘It is a great luxury to have two Ben Stokes in the line-up’. Curran’s X-factor provided England that extra dimension and also blanketed the concerns in the batting department. England could not manage to score 300 runs in both innings and apart from Root, the top order still has plenty of issues to overcome. Batsmen such as Jonny Bairstow and Jos Buttler have been so obsessed with white ball cricket, that they have forgotten the defensive mechanism. Bairstow might have scored a half-century in the first innings, his technique of staying on the leg side of the ball and not covering the off stump is likely to cause him concerns. But each of England’s concerns is overcome by the team balance. The depth in the batting, the variety in the bowling and dual seam bowling all-rounders give the team a strong edge over their counterparts. It’s fair to say in the second innings with the game evenly poised it, one all-rounder, in the form of Curran, changed the dynamics with the bat and the other all-rounder — Stokes — changed it with the ball. India must be envious of Curran and Stokes. It was the duo that played a pivotal role in getting England across the line. Anderson and Broad had also played their roles. Anderson had to swallow his own ego and continued to bowl that 5th stump to Kohli in a spell that was 16 overs split with a lunch break.  Broad’s opening burst in the second innings provided England that hope. On the back of that, Root had the confidence of bowling Adil Rashid to the Indian tail. The options Root had at his disposal ensured England had the potency to take 20 wickets. No doubt the pitch provided assistance, but the England bowlers were discipline and executed their plans to perfection. Apart from Kohli, they have now put doubts into the Indian minds. Importantly, England have prevailed despite batting poorly, fielding abysmally and confronting a belligerent Kohli. It was a Test match that will give them immense confidence. Ben Stokes might be missing in the next match, but with Curran in the mix, they have another player who can turn the match with either bat or ball. Ranked fifth in the rankings, England have found a way to scrap and knock off the World No 1 team. This is only the start, but their victory at Edgbaston highlighted that there is still plenty of skills and ability in the new breed to knock off the best test team in the world.