Boundary line view — Ind v Eng
An Indian win (less likely), England win (likely) or a draw (not likely)are the likely possiblities as a gripping day 5 awaits. Irrespective of the result, i do believe that India have long dropped the ball. Here’s why.
Not picking Ashwin: What would you do if you have a bowler with 400+ wickets, who picked 6 wickets in the only tour game you had and was also your best bowler in the WTC final just before the series. You would pick him. Kohli has been unable to give one good reason why Ashwin is not playing, because honestly there is none. His replacement (Jadeja) has bowled a total of 16 wicketless overs in the 1st test and 22 wicketless overs in the second. On pure all round capabilities, Jadeja is a better package, but then to win a game you need 20 wickets and surely Ashwin on form trumps that.
India lost the WTC final because they were undercooked, unprepared and not because they had Jadeja & Ashwin playing together.
Picking Pujara: Never in the history of the game have we had one instance of a team winning a game by the number of balls blocked. The essence of the game as a batsmen is to score runs, Pujara does the opposite of it. The biggest challenge with his batting style, is the scoreboard does not move building pressure on his partners and everyone who follows him. Think of it he comes in at 25/1 and if he does survive 40 overs the score would still be reading 70/1 which means as a team you have not moved forward at all.
Kohli has advocated an aggressive drive to win games, he has put scoring runs, taking wickets a priority to defensive plays or drawing games. His selections up to now in the england series has mirrored his current poor batting form.
