England vs India, Third Test: Three things that should worry Dhoni

After going 1-0 down at Lord’s, England came roaring back in the third Test at Southampton with a thumping win to level the series. It was a commanding performance from the hosts as they totally dominated the Test winning, in the words of skipper Alastair Cook… every session. Here are three things from the third Test at Southampton. India’s fielding let them down big time… once again If Ravindra Jadeja had held on to a chance given by Cook in the 12th over of the first day of the Test, things would have been different. Cook was on 15 then and was under tremendous pressure to perform. The let-off meant allowed Cook to stay-in and add 158 runs for the 2nd wicket with Gary Ballance. [caption id=“attachment_1643645” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Rohit Sharma (R) leaves the field after being dismissed int he first innings of the third Test against England at the Rose Bowl. Reuters[/caption] The first hour was crucial at the Rose Bowl wicket and England didn’t lose any wicket in that period. They went into lunch at a pretty comfortable 78/1. India also missed a run-out opportunity of Cook when he was on 68. The left-hander went on to make 95. Later, in the first innings, Shikhar Dhawan had dropped debutant Jos Buttler on 23 & then Dhoni missed the stumping of the England keeper when on 59. Buttler smashed 85 off 83 balls and was instrumental in helping England accelerate. The hosts posted a mammoth 569. There were numerous occasions when the edges dropped short of the slip fielders but no action was taken by the experienced Dhoni. He has had Rahul Dravid and VVs Laxman for company behind the wicket in the past and has probably never needed to tell them what to do. But this inexperienced bunch (Dhawan, Vijay, Kohli) need his help. India have dropped 6 catches so far in the series, most of them in the slips. As former India opener Aakash Chopra pointed out on day two, the slip fielding is a big worry and India need to sort it out as soon as possible. https://twitter.com/cricketaakash/status/493669825336442881 Bowled out by inexperience. India suffered a huge blow when their most experienced bowler in this squad - Ishant Sharma was ruled out just before the start of the match. The pitch had grass on the first day and it was the best chance for the pacers to shine. But they didn’t take the advantage of the track. Mohammad Shami fluffed his lines and went at 3.72 runs an over, Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s bowling seemed to lack the zip that made him so deadly in the first two Tests. Pankaj Singh, who came in for Ishant, bowled his heart out but was unlucky as a catch was dropped off his bowling, that of Cook early in his innings and then an LBW appeal - which looked out on replays - turned down against Ian Bell at the fag end of the first day. Jadeja was used as a containing bowler rather than a wicket-taking one. The England seniors stood up to the ocassion, James Anderson made the difference in the first innings. He showed how class and experience makes the difference as he scalped a five-for on a wicket that had hardly any assist for the bowlers. Stuart Broad complemented him well as the pair scalped 8 out of the 10 wickets and bundled India out for 330. From then on, it was England’s game. Anderson and Broad played a Test series against Sri Lanka just before this series but still they looked fresh compared to the Indian bowlers. As Bhuvneshwar Kumar put it at the end of day 2, “We were tired as I said and it was an easy wicket for the batsmen. So it was hard work. So the captain wanted us to bowl one-over spells and personally I found that easy. That way we didn’t really get tired and we also found our rhythm.” Rohit’s selection didn’t do the trick Dhoni went on the defensive by selecting Rohit Sharma. This left India with just four bowlers and increased the workload on Bhuvneshwar Kumar. He should have instead gone with Ravichandran Ashwin. Rohit was a disappointment in both the innings with scores of 28 and 6. The contribution was almost nil. The Indian skipper should have gone with Ravichandran Ashwin. As we saw on the final day, Moeen Ali – a part-timer in the eyes of many – just ripped through the Indian middle-order. He was used as an attacking bowler rather than a containing one. His six wickets in the fourth innings of the Test won it for the hosts. Moeen is now the joint-second highest wicket-taker in the series with 15 wickets at 23. He has the best strike in the series so far - 43.8, he has thoroughly outbowled his counterpart Jadeja (8 wickets at 48, SR 106.8). Ashwin’s inclusion would have added an attacking dimension (if Dhoni allowed him to) to the bowling department. He is more than handy with the bat.