It beggars belief that yet again the Indian cricket team has snatched defeat from the jaws of victory when it comes to an overseas Test Match. Skipper Virat Kohli’s valiant heroics – a brilliant century in the first innings and a fighting 50 in the second taking his match-total to over 200 runs -- were in vain as the rest of the batting order collapsed like the proverbial stack of cards in both innings at Edgbaston. That can happen, of course, but the problem with Indian batsmen is two-fold: First, such collapses occur with unerring regularity. And secondly, our batting order is packed with flat-track bullies without the technique to negotiate the lateral movement of the ball such as one finds in English conditions. The bowlers were excellent and Kohli magnificent but that’s no solace for losing a Test which should have been won.
To top it all, the team management, possibly in its cups, decides to leave CheteshwarPujara out of the playing XI and play Shikhar Dhawan. Really. Gah, humbug! is possibly the only reaction to such unthinking selection decisions. Test selection should always be based on the adage that class is permanent and form temporary. Kohli,we are sure, would be using his far richer vocabulary in Hindi-Punjabi to ensure his batsmen get the message that their embarrassing performance in the first Test is unacceptable.