While India had its spin Gods, England managed to surprise with the help of wrist spinner Adil Rashid who had a fantastic series and also claimed Man of the Match award in the final ODI. With both the teams winning one series each, it comes down to the all-important upcoming Test Series! Here are the takeaways from the series
The verdict of the match held on Tuesday is out and the Men in Blue have lost the ODI series 2-1 to the hosts. India lazed through the T20I series and carried the confidence and aggression to the first ODI match which they won owing to Kuldeep Yadav ‘spinning’ his web of magic. However, while India was riding high on its success, the hosts fought back vigorously and won the series.
While India had its spin Gods, England managed to surprise with the help of wrist spinner Adil Rashid who had a fantastic series and also claimed Man of the Match award in the final ODI. With both the teams winning one series each, it comes down to the all-important upcoming Test Series! Here are the takeaways from the series:
Failure of the Spin Test: While Kuldeep and Chahal spun the web of spin bowling very efficiently and English batsmen did succumb to it in the T20’s and the first ODI, very soon it was evident that they could overcome this challenge. As the series progressed, the English side grew more at ease with the spin threat and the duo of Joe Root and Eoin Morgan diffused the ‘spin bomb’ completely.
The poor form of Ben Stokes: The times are not good for the English player whose series of injuries and bad form has been the cross on the neck for the English side. With a forgettable IPL outing and injury during the Australian series refusing to go away, Stokes was a disappointment throughout the series with poor performances in the T20s as well as the ODIs where he could manage a painful 50 of 103 balls in the first match with an early dismissal at 5 in the next. His tale with the ball is no less traumatising as he has proven to be quite expensive with runs and no wickets in his account.
Indian bowling faces a crisis: The Indian side saw Bumrah’s injury coupled with Bhuvneshwar Kumar untimely injured before the ODI a blow to the bowling attack! While Umesh Yadav picked up three wickets from two games, he has been expensive and inconsistent throughout the series and Siddarth Kaul should erase this series from his career because in honesty in has been a forgettable series for him. Shardul Thakur took a single wicket in the only match he played while the Indian faith in Hardik Pandya has totally backfired since he could only complete his quota of 10 overs once!
The player that was Joe Root: His early dismissal in the third T20 led to criticisms being levelled against him and doubts being raised on his ODI career. His inability to find the key to Kuldeep’s bowling led to him facing severe criticisms. However, he remained collected and scored two back to back match winning centuries in the last two crucial ODIs.
Middle order tales of woe: The Indian batting order rests entirely on Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli and an early dismissal of any of these players means trouble for the Indian side and a possible victory for the opponent. Throughout the series MSD struggled with his IPL form a thing of relic! The continuing inadequacy and confusion at no. 4 along with forgettable performances from Rahul, Raina, and Pandya have added to miseries of the Indian side.
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