India Cricket

India need more than a miracle to save the third Test against England at Southampton, with the visitors staring down the barrel at 112 for four at the end of Day 4, chasing England's distant target of 445.

Miracles are often talked about in the game of cricket, with its rich and eventful history abundant with instances that can be so classified.

However, miracles should not be expected to be showered upon you with a swish of a wand; they have to be earned.

After four excruciating days of cricket at the Ageas Bowl, laced with a negative attitude and an irresolute performance from almost all players, a miracle is not what India deserve. Defeat is.

Coming into this match after a hard-fought and well-deserved 1-0 lead in the series, India were expected to play like winners and possess the momentum required to surge ahead.

Instead, after four days of bewildering cricket from the visitors, coupled with an unswerving positive brand from the hosts, it's hard to believe that this is the same Indian team that wowed one and all at Lord's.

The bright side for India is that this is a five-match series and there are still two games left after this one to make amends.

The first thing on Mahendra Singh Dhoni's drawing board should be to blow away the defensiveness that has inexplicably seeped into his mindset after what we saw at Lord's, in not only his tactics on the field but also team selection.

India's decision to play the extra batsman at Southampton has almost certainly backfired unless Rohit Sharma earns an unlikely miracle on Thursday.

Given how England’s supposedly part-time spinner Moeen Ali—who has 11 wickets to his name in this series—has performed, it would be a calamity if Ravichandran Ashwin does not play in Manchester.

India have been let down by their batsmen at Southampton, who either failed to convert hard-earned starts or threw their wickets away—or both. If the axe has to fall on anyone, the two names that stand out are Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli.

The pair's combined aggregate of 223 runs for the series is five less than what bowling all-rounder Bhuvneshwar Kumar has scored himself.

Dhawan is almost certain to be dropped, with the experienced Gautam Gambhir waiting for his first chance to play in the series.

The southpaw has looked extremely twitchy and uncomfortable for most parts of his brief stays in the middle—his 85-ball struggle for 37 runs in the second innings at the Ageas Bowl being his most promising outing.

A naturally attacking player, Dhawan's instincts have been suppressed by the pace, bounce and movement generated by James Anderson and Co., so much so that he looks tentative even while playing spinners.

While caution is acceptable to some limit in difficult circumstances and conditions, India have missed the Dhawan in full flow who is capable of taking the attack to the opposition, no matter what their credentials.

Dhawan has failed to support his opening partner, Murali Vijay, who would have hoped for some aggression and counter-attack from the other end while he plays his natural, watchful innings.

Instead, Dhawan has lost his wicket early in the innings to the quicks on four occasions and once each to the spin of Moeen Ali and Joe Root.

Some time out could just be the ideal tonic required for not only Dhawan but the team in general, who would like to see what Gambhir has to offer.

The same can't really be said about Kohli. The man who replaced Sachin Tendulkar at No. 4 in India's batting line-up obviously has some big boots to fill, but then he is the only Indian batsman who is capable of doing so.

Kohli came into the series off some terrific form in South Africa and New Zealand, and was expected to lead India's batting in this series. However, England have found and exploited his weakness outside off-stump and have done well to keep him quiet.

Kohli's dismissal in the second innings at Lord's, where he left alone a Liam Plunkett delivery only for it to jag back in and take the top of off-stump, set a few alarm bells ringing regarding his technique.

Leaving deliveries does not come naturally to Kohli, who is a pure and prolific stroke-maker. He appeared to be trying his best to reverse his fortunes at Southampton but is just not able to curb that inclination to poke outside off-stump.

Kohli showed glimpses of his class at the Ageas Bowl during his innings of 39 and 28, with some glorious cover drives and straight drives, before his poking fetish got the better of him.

However, with these two outings, he has just about prevented the "out of form" label being stuck across his forehead.

Should Kohli be dropped?

Not yet. That's not just because India don't really have a replacement in their 18-man squad but also because he is the kind of batsman who possesses the quality and ability to turn around games single-handedly. You want to provide such talismanic players with a longer leash.

But India will need their No. 4 to fire soon if they are to get a move on in this series.

A good place to start for Kohli would be to grab hold of the DVD of his predecessor's innings of 241 at Sydney in 2003-04, which was a thesis on disciplined and controlled batting.

All statistics via ESPN Cricinfo unless otherwise stated.

If Day 2 was not convincing enough, England left no doubts that they have total control of the third Test against India at the end of Day 3, with the visitors reeling at 323 for eight, a further 47 runs required to only avoid the follow-on.

Avoiding the follow-on would be a huge victory in itself for the Indians given their shambolic performance over the last three days—an almost unbelievable reversal in every possible aspect from their showing in the second Test at Lord's.

So listless were Mahendra Singh Dhoni's men that Indian fans were taking solace from their wrestlers winning three golds at the Commonwealth Games.

Commentator Sanjay Manjrekar even rejoiced after it was pointed out on air that, for the first time, India had crossed 275 runs in each of the first five innings of a Test series.

A comparison with India's performance at Lord's—where they won their first Test away from home in three years—succinctly puts matters into perspective.

There, Dhoni lost what seemed a vital toss and was asked to put his team in to bat on perhaps the greenest pitch ever seen at the venue.

However, India transformed their apparent handicap into an advantage with a resolute and disciplined outing with the bat in both innings, coupled with a lack of application from the Englishmen.

With the ball, the Indians outbowled England on a pitch that was tailor-made for the hosts' bowling line-up, even with bowlers who were far less experienced.

In the field, the Indians were not great and did spill a couple of catches but made up for it with good ground fielding and astute captaincy from Dhoni, who always looked a step ahead of England.

India's 95-run victory was thoroughly deserved after a dominating all-round show.

And then, just like that, the world spun over in less than a week. Going south to Southampton for the third Test, the Indians seem to have taken it quite literally.

Again, India lost an important toss and were asked to bowl on a flattish pitch with not much assistance for the bowlers.

Over the next three days, any positive leftover feelings from Lord's were wiped away by a combination of England's positive attitude and resolve to correct their wrongs and India's stubborn reluctance to produce an encore.

India's bowlers, sans the leader of the attack and Lord's hero Ishant Sharma, who was ruled out due to injury, appeared clueless and ineffective.

The fact was exaggerated by the skipper who continually resorted to defensive tactics right from choosing an extra batsman to asking his bowlers to subscribe to leg theory.

If that wasn't enough, India's slip-catching could only be described as farcical for an international side. 

England were allowed to stroll along to 569 for seven before captain Alastair Cook showed some mercy and declared. If the tourists thought that was an end to their woes, they had another think coming.

For all of Ishant's heroics on the last day at Lord's, the prime reason why India won that Test was because of their batsmen, whose dogged determination and fearless approach was delightful and extremely encouraging.

Yet for some inexplicable reason, it all went missing in Southampton on a surface that was clearly more hospitable for the batsmen. The shots were poor, the judgement of the situation and conditions poorer.

Gone was the ability to grind out partnerships right to the tail and accumulate runs. They got the starts but were unable to build on them as their counterparts had done so well.

If their struggle against the world-class bowling of James Anderson and Stuart Broad was understandable, their overconfidence and foolishness in gifting two wickets to the part-time spin of Moeen Ali was inexcusable.

Dhoni's ploy of going for the extra batsman in Rohit Sharma, instead of bowling all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin, was always going to be a big gamble and has miserably failed at least in the first innings. However, he still has the chance to make amends.

The Indian captain ended the day unbeaten after a gritty half-century, and as long as he is still out there and is given support by the two remaining batsmen, India still have hope to score the remaining 47 runs required not just to save the follow-on but potentially the Test and their hard-earned 1-0 lead.

If India do manage to get there, they would have dodged a cannon ball. If they don't, they would only get what they deserve.

The sight of Gary Ballance celebrating his third hundred in six Tests on Day 1 at the Ageas Bowl likely left MS Dhoni and his Indian teammates feeling rather aggrieved on Sunday night.

When Ian Bell stroked his way toward a typically graceful century of his own on Day 2, that feeling would have only been compounded.

And as Jos Buttler thumped his way to an oh-so Adam Gilchrist-like 85, bludgeoning India's ragged attack that grew increasingly sloppy in the late-afternoon sun, Dhoni must have been wondering which of the cricket gods he'd spat and trodden on prior to this Test to deserve such a punishing string of misfortune.

After all, replays indicated Ballance had nicked one from Mohammed Shami when on just 10 in the minutes after lunch on the opening day. Later, Bell—still yet to score—survived a LBW shout from Pankaj Singh that was going on to hit the top of middle-stump.

Buttler, meanwhile, escaped a tight low catch to Ajinkya Rahane on Monday thanks to the inconclusive nature of the slow-motion replays, which inherently favour the batsman in such situations.

He was also on naught. 

Combined, the three tight calls that went against Dhoni's men cost the Indian captain 398 runs; the jubilation of Lord's and the excitement of Ishant Sharma's hair (it's a mop so large that it has its own behaviour) suddenly a distant memory. 

All, however, is not lost for the visitors. 

Despite the massive total of 569-7, despite a pair of centurions in two afternoons of dominance for England, despite Buttler's inflicted carnage on a lifeless attack, India are still well within reach of their primary goal for this Test: a draw. 

With his leading speedster ruled out through injury prior to the match, Dhoni's bowling attack was always set for an arduous slog unless another luscious, green seamer was unveiled in Southampton. Thus, India dropped all-rounder Stuart Binny for Rohit Sharma, robbing depth from the bowling unit to bolster the batting lineup.

Capturing 20 wickets wasn't the priority. Not losing that many was. Maintaining a 1-0 lead was the most—or perhaps only—realistic option. 

So when India emerged from an evening barrage from James Anderson and Stuart Broad for just the loss of Shikhar Dhawan at stumps, it felt as though Dhoni's men had won a critical passage in the game. 

Interestingly, England have only won five of their last 12 Tests in which they've hammered totals of 500 or more in the first innings of a match. Aside from the mauling handed out to a listless India at the Oval in 2011, all of those have come against the West Indies and Bangladesh, hardly pillars of strength in the Test arena.

When India take to the crease on the Day 3, a succession of fine batsmen will march out under the glorious forecasted sunshine, eager to make use of one of the best batting strips in England.

Aiding their cause will be an opposing captain burdened by suffocating pressure to orchestrate a result, a weary Anderson, an aching Broad, an alarmingly wayward—on Monday evening, at least—Chris Jordan and an inexperienced Chris Woakes. 

England's spearheads may have summoned all of their fire for 14 tense overs at the end of Day 2, but doing so throughout a day under endless sunshine is an entirely contrasting challenge and one England haven't relished in recent months. 

Perhaps due to the home side's lingering vulnerability, a nagging lack of killer instinct, India will still feel they're well placed to secure a stalemate, their desired outcome. The notorious strength of the team's middle order is only likely to bolster that perception among the visitors. 

As muddled as they've looked for almost two days, the series lead remains theirs. 

And despite consecutive afternoons of unwavering command, the onus is still on England to change that.

England took the honours on Day 1 of the third Test against India at the Rose Bowl, Southampton, via an industrious 158-run, second-wicket partnership between captain Alastair Cook (95) and Gary Ballance (104 not out).

Ballance hit his third century in six Tests, an effective and productive innings if not pretty to watch, and he was supported by the return to form of a much maligned Cook, who played a disciplined and watchful innings under pressure that temporarily silenced critics of his batting, if not captaincy.

Even though he missed out on a first Test century since last May, Cook would be the happier of the two captains at the end of what was easily one of the better days English cricket has witnessed in a while.

Right from winning the toss and allowing his team to bat first on one of the best tracks for batting in the country, to losing just two wickets at the end of the day, Cook and England barely put a foot wrong.

If India want to see the bright side, it is that they managed to restrict the flow of runs on an unhelpful surface. England failed to pass the 250-mark on the day and still have some work to do if they want to dictate terms in this Test.

The story could have been a lot different had Lord's hero Ravindra Jadeja latched on to a dolly of a catch in the slip cordon when Cook was just on 15, thereby denying India’s debutant seam bowler Pankaj Singh his first Test wicket.

Jadeja made amends with his own bowling later in the day as he had Cook caught behind off a delivery that was in no way a wicket-taking one but not before the England captain had added a further 80 runs to his score.

Throughout the Cook-Ballance partnership, Jadeja subscribed, or was ordered to subscribe, to the leg theory for the two left-handers and bowled to a 7-2 field in favour of the leg-side.

The defensive tactic, no doubt one concocted by Indian skipper MS Dhoni, begged to ask the question whether Jadeja’s only task as a bowler was to restrict the flow of runs. The left-arm spinner did very well, which was reflected in his economy rate of 1.54, but then keeping a check on run-flow doesn’t win you Test matches; wickets do.

Given that the pitch was not offering much assistance to the bowlers on Day 1, the Indian attack cut a dispirited note for a majority of the day.

Bar for a brief spell after the fall of Cook’s wicket in the evening session, it seemed as if the Indians were content with restricting the run-flow and were just expecting the wickets to fall into their laps.

At Trent Bridge, on a track that was even flatter, the Indian bowlers had struggled, but there were short bursts of energy and conviction provided by Ishant Sharma and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, which were sorely missed on Sunday.

The Englishmen did well to keep the leading wicket-taker of the series, Bhuvneshwar, quiet. Shami, on the other hand, kept himself quiet as he continued to inexplicably drift down the leg and gifted easy runs.

Pankaj was the only bowler who looked like taking a wicket and would consider himself extremely unlucky not to have opened his Test account. He could have had two to his name had it not been for Jadeja’s dropped catch and an umpiring howler by Rod Tucker.

The heavily built Pankaj, who had come in to the side for the injured Ishant Sharma, bowled a good line and length throughout his 20 overs and produced good variations off the seam, which India will hope he can sustain for the length of the match.

Meanwhile, Dhoni will know that his attempts to suffocate the run-flow will backfire soon enough if his bowlers do not pick up wickets, making the morning session of Day 2 extremely vital. A total of 400-plus is not going to be easy to match as the pitch wears down, and this is where he would hope his bolstered batting line-up turns up.

As it turned out, Dhoni’s first defensive move in the Test came even before a single ball was bowled. Ineffective all-rounder Stuart Binny was expectedly benched but replaced by an extra batsman in Rohit Sharma, rather than off-spinner and two-Test centurion Ravichandran Ashwin.

With Binny bowling just 20 overs across the last two Tests, perhaps Dhoni felt that he was not using his fifth bowler at all, so he might as well include an extra batsman. But the decision could backfire given his bowlers’ exploits on Day 1.

India need to pick up 20 wickets to win the Test, and including Ashwin in the side would only have boosted their chances of doing so.

Even without six specialist batsmen, India had managed to score 457 and 391 at Trent Bridge on a pitch that wasn’t too different from the one at the Rose Bowl, at least on Day 1. An additional bowler—and one who can definitely bat as well—seemed a logical choice.

Dhoni’s team selection and on-field tactics appear to be a big gamble as things stand and will have to be justified over the next four days.

The Indian skipper may have felt that he had the liberty to execute a defensive policy given that his side is 1-0 up in the series, but there’s plenty of time for that scoreline to change—the last series between these two teams being proof of it.

By leading India to victory over Alastair Cook's England in the second Test at Lord's, MS Dhoni captured just his sixth Test triumph away from home as captain. 

Against a nose-diving home side, that stunning victory to give India a 1-0 series lead has suddenly presented Dhoni with an opportunity to claim his most elusive prize: A major Test series victory outside of Indian borders. 

While the current skipper has led his team to series wins in Bangladesh, New Zealand and the West Indies, visits to England, Australia and South Africa have dealt heavy losses to Dhoni's India, severely hurting the perception of his skills as a leader and ability to disrupt the expected narrative. 

In Britain this time around, however, the Indian captain looks capable of steering his youthful side to a famous triumph, which—should it occur—would begin to address the vastly unbalanced record of Dhoni's Test captaincy.

Interestingly, India's victory at Lord's now means Dhoni has secured Test victories in all but one of the nations he's visited as captain, with Australia now standing as the only country to have consistently denied the polarising leader. 

However, based on his record, capturing the Pataudi Trophy in England this summer will still prove to be a stern test for Dhoni despite the home side's lurch toward a crisis, given that he's never won more than a single Test in any country outside India.

Of course, the most criticised aspect of Dhoni's tenure has been the humiliations India have received under the current captain during visits to England and Australia.

In his last visit to English shores in 2011, Dhoni's men arrived with big reputations but were handed a truly horrific annihilation by Andrew Strauss' side, losing the series in a 4-0 whitewash that contained two innings defeats and another pair of losses by 319 and 196 runs. 

That disastrous trip was followed by an equally forgettable tour of Australia in 2011-12.

Enduring the difficulties of a transitional period and arriving horribly underprepared, Michael Clarke's side inflicted similar damage, handing Dhoni a pair of innings defeats and another loss by 122 runs (Dhoni missed the fourth Test in Adelaide after being suspended for a slow over rate in Perth).

Such trips have had a profound effect on India's statistical record away from home under Dhoni, resulting in a set of numbers that highlight the extremely contrasting performance of India at home and on tour.

Yet, perhaps much of the criticism of Dhoni's captaincy—particularly his work away from home—can be attributed to higher-than-ever expectations for India's Test team.  

Given the BCCI's financial dominance of the game and the immense resources available to Indian cricket, Dhoni has been expected to deliver unrelenting success in a way that many of his predecessors have not.

Additionally, the capture of the 2007 World Twenty20, the No. 1 Test ranking in 2009, the 2011 World Cup and the 2013 Champions Trophy has seen the current skipper steer India through one of the nation's most successful periods, only further heightening the realm of possibilities for Dhoni's leadership.

Thus, the captain's failures away from home have become more notable due to his own success—a point which is reinforced by his Test record outside India among his nation's notable captains throughout history. 

As shown in the table above, only Sourav Ganguly has claimed more Test victories away from home as India's captain, while only Ganguly and Rahul Dravid have captured their victories at a better rate than Dhoni.

However, perhaps also hurting the perception of the current leader is his record with the bat away from home as captain.

As an unorthodox and self-taught keeper-batsman, Dhoni has been unable to lead through his own personal example in the way those before him have.

Whereas Ganguly (Test average of 43.41 away from home as Indian captain), Dravid (46.88) and Sachin Tendulkar (54.90) were able to dictate Tests through their own personal performance, Dhoni's success as skipper has hinged upon the excellence of others, coupled with his own leadership in the field when behind the stumps. 

Currently 1-0 up with three Tests still to play against England, however, Dhoni has the chance to deliver his nation's first series victory away from home over one of cricket's powerhouses in seven years. 

If he's able to do so, his captaincy record will take on a whole new complexion. 

All statistics courtesy of ESPN Cricinfo.

Six days after a historic win at Lord’s, Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s India travel to Southampton on the southern coast for the third Test of their five-match series against England.

Three years since their last Test win overseas, India—via an utterly dominating performance in conditions that were supposedly tailor-made for the home side—finally proved that they haven’t yet forgotten how to win away from home, after failed attempts in England, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand.

India’s win—their first at Lord’s since 1986—was achieved on the back of numerous individual performances. Ajinkya Rahane, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Murali Vijay, Ravindra Jadeja, Ishant Sharma and the captain himself were all protagonists of the victory, highlighting a prolific team effort.

However, after the euphoria has settled, the Indians would sit back and chart their next move, with the series far from over. While the aforementioned players were very good, there were some who have raised concerns over the length of the two Test matches played so far.

The most glaring warning light emanates from Stuart Binny, the 29-year-old all-rounder who was picked at both Trent Bridge and Lord’s for his seam-bowling ability, which was supposed to thrive in English conditions.

At Trent Bridge, on a track that had less life in it than a morgue, Binny was used for all of 10 overs out of 145 bowled by the Indians. If you thought that was a one-off, he was given exactly the same number of overs at Lord’s on a pitch that definitely had something for the bowlers through all five days.

The writing was on the wall when Dhoni did not trust Binny’s medium pace with even a single over in England’s second innings, with India defending a not-too-large total.

As for his batting, if he was a hero at Trent Bridge for a gritty 78 on Test debut, he was as much a villain at Lord’s for failing to cross over to double figures in either innings. If that wasn’t a death knell, the shot he played to get out in the second innings, when India needed him to stick it out, certainly was.

If a player who is selected in the side as an all-rounder is bowled for just 20 overs over two Test matches, he is wasting a valuable spot in the team. Seeing as how the Lord’s pitch behaved, and Southampton likely to produce a similar one, that spot would more be suited to someone like off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin.

Jadeja’s left-arm orthodox spin-bowling at Lord’s, where he was a constant threat to the English batsmen, especially in the second innings as he exploited the fast-bowlers’ footmarks, begs the inclusion of a genuine spinner in India’s XI. It could also be argued that Ashwin is a better and more responsible batsman than Binny.

The other weak link in India’s bowling line-up has been Mohammed Shami. After impressing so much on flat tracks in India against the West Indies in his debut series, Shami eight months later appears to have become a victim of the rigorous schedule that an Indian player has to participate in.

The 24-year-old quick, who used to effortlessly bowl in the 140s, has lost not only his pace, but also his ability to find the right line and length.

Shami has been guilty of bowling too short and often drifting down the leg, thereby giving away easy runs to the English batsmen. Such was his struggle, he could not even get assistance from a generous surface at Lord’s.

India’s 18-man squad for this series includes as many as seven bowlers who are not spinners, so Dhoni has plenty of options to choose from. The first name on the list would seem to be Varun Aaron, India’s fastest bowler in recent times.

Not only is Aaron genuinely quick, but he is also tall and a hit-the-deck bowler. We all know what happened the last time a lanky pacer pitched it short at Alastair Cook’s men.

Ishant Sharma in the mid-130s drew comparisons with Mitchell Johnson during that destructive five-over spell at Lord’s. Imagine that with a boost of at least 10 kilometres per hour.

Aaron bowling on a green-top track is a lip-smacking prospect if you’re a fan of unabashed fast bowling. The 24-year-old does have a reputation of being erratic, inconsistent and injury-prone, but it would be a waste if he is not even given at least one game to prove otherwise.

Moving up the order, Virat Kohli is going through a nightmare patch, having scored just 34 runs in four innings. Only Ishant Sharma and Ben Stokes have scored lesser from both teams.

However, Kohli's form shouldn't be ringing any alarms yet, given his talent and past record. He was in terrific touch in South Africa and New Zealand, scoring a century and a fifty in both countries.

If there was anything alarming, it was his dismissal in the second innings at Lord's when he failed to judge the line of the ball bowled by Liam Plunkett and was bowled without offering a shot.

Just moments before, the broadcasters showed him practicing leaving deliveries in the nets, which is quite against his natural stroke-making style. It would do him well if he just trusted his instincts and played naturally.

Opener Shikhar Dhawan is another Indian batsman who is struggling, having scored just 79 runs in four innings, 31 of which came in his last innings. 

Since his spectacular debut last March, where he scored the fastest century by a Test debutant, Dhawan's form in the longer format appears to have fizzled.

He struggled with the pace of the fast bowlers and the surface in South Africa. His natural aggressiveness, which has flourished in the limited overs matches, has been caught in the headlights in Tests.

With Gautam Gambhir waiting on the bench, dropping Dhawan seems an obvious option, but it would be too early to do so. For all his floundering in South Africa, he did prove his grit in New Zealand where he scored a century and a 98 in conditions not too different from England.

Dhawan was looking good during the second innings at Lord's and had twitchily, but successfully, maneuvered England's pacers for a 45-ball 31 before a spectacular catch by Joe Root at point sent him packing. 

India should give him at least one more chance, at Southampton, before considering bringing Gambhir in.

So, Binny and Shami out, Ashwin and Aaron in, would be the ideal changes Dhoni should consider for the third Test. The Indian skipper doesn't usually like messing with a winning combination, but this would be the best time to see what the others in his squad have to offer.

After a bizarre and catastrophic day of cricket—depending on which side you're on—India trumped England by 95 runs at Lord's to take a much-deserved 1-0 lead in the five-match series.

It would be safe to say there isn’t a single person on the face of the planet who would have predicted the happenings of the afternoon session on Monday—not even the psychic guy who bet on Germany beating Brazil 7-1 in the FIFA World Cup semi-finals.

India were favourites going into the final day of what has been a fascinating Lord’s Test. They were put in that position by many protagonists: from Ajinkya Rahane’s technical brilliance on Day 1, to Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s disciplined, accurate bowling on Day 2 and rock-solid batting on Day 4, to Murali Vijay’s patient, attritional innings of 95 on Day 3 and finally Ravindra Jadeja’s fearless flamboyance with both bat and ball on Day 4.

Needing six more English wickets to win a Test match away from home for the first time since 2011 and at Lord’s since 1986, India’s heroes were bound to be either Kumar or Jadeja.

However, as play began on an overcast morning in London on Monday, an optimistic India’s hopes of wrapping up the game early were slowly and smartly wriggled away by a determined, plucky effort from England’s young guns, Moeen Ali and Joe Root.

The duo built their partnership from an overnight 33 with some smart batting, which wasn’t chanceless but brave enough to see them almost through the morning session unscathed.

With a ball to go until the lunch interval, the partnership had swelled to 101, and all of a sudden, it was England who were the favourites.

Bowling the last over before lunch was Ishant Sharma, who had produced short bursts of probing spells throughout the series, including one during an afternoon in Nottingham which was his best by a country mile in a long time.

Coming back to Lord’s, in this session, he had tried bowling all possible lengths and had been stubbornly blunted by Ali and Root. In the over before, Root had hit him for three boundaries.

Given the quickly diminishing lead, it would have been demotivating for any bowler.

But this was Ishant Sharma—someone who has been lambasted for most parts of his seven-year international career, having never quite lived up to the herculean expectations of Indian fans since his wonder spell at Perth in 2007-08.

He was coming into this series on the back of two six-wicket hauls against New Zealand. His three for 150 at Trent Bridge on a lifeless pitch had threatened to bowl England out early, only to be thwarted by a stiff resistance by the tail.     

In spite of this, an Indian loss or draw at Lord’s would certainly be put down to his impotency on a Day 5 pitch. It was unfair to the extent of being ridiculous, but it was true.

With all that possibly at the back of his head, Ishant ran in to deliver the last ball before lunch to Ali. The left-hander was susceptible to the short delivery but had done extremely well to defend his vulnerability on the day.

As it turned out, Ishant stuck to bowling short; the ball rose up to head height as Ali jumped and awkwardly tried to fend it off. It took his glove and looped up for an easy catch for short leg. Ishant had ensured his team’s lunch tasted a bit better, but five more wickets remained.

In the afternoon session, India started with more short-pitched bowling to Root and new batsman Matt Prior, who valiantly decided to go on the counter-attack. A string of boundaries put the pressure back on the visitors as England briskly approached the 200-run mark.

Facing such an offensive, any bowler would have doubts as to what line to maintain, but with the score at 198 for five in the 80th over, Ishant decided to stick to the chin music. What transpired in the next six overs is bound to become folklore.

In possibly the most disastrous half-hour in English cricketing history, Prior, Root, Ben Stokes and Stuart Broad all succumbed to Ishant’s short delivery, all save the latter going for an attacking stroke and holing out.

It was a hostile, accurate and relentless five-over spell of short-pitched bowling from Ishant that almost cruelly bulldozed the Englishmen.

So intimidating and ruthless was the tall 25-year-old with a lion’s mane that it would have rekindled fond memories of a glorious summer for a certain mustachioed Australian fast bowler. Yes, even Mitchell Johnson would have been proud watching Ishant's charge.

Even as India wrapped up the match via a run-out—poetic as it was with Jadeja dismissing James Anderson—the bold fact was that India had won a Test match abroad by bouncing out the opposition, a proposition that would have seemed outrageous mere hours ago.

Not only had Ishant got his name on the honours board at Lord’s—a muzzle for his critics—but he had recorded his career-best figures of seven for 74, also the first time an Indian bowler had taken that many wickets in England.

It was a spell which deserved to be reproduced into collector’s item DVDs and described fondly in books.

Speaking in the post-match presentation after winning the man-of-the-match award, Ishant revealed that it was his captain MS Dhoni who had convinced him to persist with the short length. Dhoni’s astute captaincy, replete with innovative and instinctive field placings and bowling changes, coupled with other brilliant individual performances, meant that India thoroughly deserved to go 1-0 up in the series.

But this match, perhaps unfairly to the rest of the performers, will always be remembered as Ishant Sharma’s Test. It was a performance that could prove to be the turning point for not just his personal career, but also his team’s fortunes away from home.

It was a performance that should transform his image from a national scapegoat to a national hero.

India took a 1-0 lead in the five-match Test series with a 95-run win over England at Lord's.

Ishant Sharma took 7-74 as the hosts were dismissed for 223 midway through the afternoon session on the final day in London.

Alastair Cook's side, who were 105-4 overnight, navigated the opening two hours before losing Moeen Ali to the final ball before lunch.

They then collapsed after the adjournment in the wake of hostile, short bowling from seamer Sharma as they lost their last five wickets in eight-and-a-half overs.

The defeat condemns England to their seventh defeat in nine Tests and equals their worst winless sequence, which is now 10 Tests, for 20 years to pile the pressure on Cook.

Joe Root and Ali looked as if they could end that run by extending their fifth-wicket partnership to 101 runs before lunch, but the latter took his eye off a Sharma bouncer and gloved to Cheteshwar Pujara for 39.

A procession followed as the out-of-form Matt Prior (12) and Ben Stokes (zero) both could only find fielders while attempting to pull Sharma before Root did exactly the same after making 66.

Three wickets had fallen in two overs and Sharma picked up his seventh when Stuart Broad (eight) tickled one down the leg side to MS Dhoni, before Jimmy Anderson was comically run out for two to put England out of their misery.

The third Test begins in Southampton on Sunday, with England likely to make changes as they look to level the series, although Cook vowed to continue in the post-match presentation.

Cook was quoted as saying, as reported by ESPN Cricinfo:

It's a tough defeat, I think we have to give India a lot of credit, they have outbowled and outbatted us.

Going to take a lot of determination to turn this around. A lot of our performances have been by the younger guys, that's good for English cricket. Yes, the older guys are not playing as well as their record suggest, same for myself, I have to start scoring runs as well.

Ravindra Jadeja, the pantomime villain of the series, transformed Lord's into his backyard and treated international fast bowlers with utter disdain as he helped India grab control of the second Test on Day 4.

His alleged escapade with James Anderson off the pitch had dominated the build-up to the match, but Jadeja ensured that the only counterattacking action he took was in the middle in full public view at the home of cricket.

Whatever Anderson did or did not do last week in the players' tunnel at Trent Bridge, he probably didn't know that Jadeja belongs to a clan of people inhabiting the western and northern parts of India known as the Rajputs, who claim to be descendants of erstwhile Hindu warriors.

Jadeja's lineage is proudly displayed in upper-case characters in his Twitter bio, which reads, "Indian cricketer, RAJPUT, horse rider."

By the end of Day 4 at Lord's everyone, including Anderson, knew the fact. 

When he walked out to bat at No. 8 on Sunday, in the morning session, India were precariously placed at 203 for six with a lead of just 179. The visitors had just lost their skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni and all-rounder Stuart Binny in quick succession, in contrasting circumstances.

Dhoni had fallen after an uncharacteristically defensive and watchful innings of 19 off 86 balls. The Indian captain had suppressed his naturally attacking instinct in a bid to safeguard his wicket and support Murali Vijay (95).

He had done well to survive a probing end to Day 3 and an equally testing start to Day 4 provided by the English bowlers, but the smallest of lapses in concentration resulted in him edging Liam Plunkett to the slips, without doing much good to India's lead.

The patience of Binny, the next man in, lasted only nine balls as he saw his opportunity to attack part-time spinner Moeen Ali and ended up skying the ball, only to be caught brilliantly by Alastair Cook.

Thus, it would have been easy for Jadeja to be confused as to what approach he should take. Should he, like his skipper, play an unnatural defensive innings and try to preserve his wicket, or should he go by his instincts and play in his innate attacking manner, at the risk of losing his wicket early and potentially costing his team the match?

Fortunately for India, Jadeja isn't much of a thinker.

His intent was clear on the sixth delivery he faced, as he stepped down the track to Ali and cracked the ball wide of mid-off for four. The very next delivery, he attempted a similar shot that found a thick outside edge and flew high into the air on the off side, but landed before the point fielder could get to it.

Outrageous is a word that is often associated with Jadeja's style of batting and the 25-year-old stepped it up a notch soon enough, as he waltzed down the track to his nemesis Anderson and nonchalantly drove him through the covers for four.

Stuart Broad was then treated like a club cricketer as Jadeja produced a gorgeous straight drive that sailed one bounce for four, before playing one of the most fluent and classy pulls to the midwicket fence that you would ever see.

It was the kind of innings that you couldn't help but admire and enjoy as long as he was connecting with the ball handsomely and getting boundaries, but the moment he miscued a shot and lost his wicket, it would induce as many abuses as it would cheers.

Fortunately for India, Jadeja isn't much of a thinker.

Even if he had gotten out like Binny, he wouldn't think twice before attempting the same the very next innings. As luck would have it, Sunday turned out to be his day as he notched up his first Test half-century in just 42 deliveries.

His celebration on reaching the landmark is one to savour for years as he twirled his bat around like a sword looking towards a delighted Indian dressing room. The Rajput was on his horse and he was enjoying the battle, so much so that Anderson was further humiliated with a slash down the ground and a mighty cut for a couple more boundaries.

No matter who goes on to win the legal battle, this round of cricket at Lord's had only one winner.

Jadeja shared a potentially match-winning 99-run eighth-wicket partnership with fellow all-rounder Bhuvneshwar Kumar (52) to help India to 342 in their second innings, thereby setting England a target of 319.

He lost his wicket exactly as you would have expected—a miscued pull that found the top edge and was caught, but only after he had scored 68 absolutely crucial runs from just 57 deliveries.

If that wasn't enough, his wily left-arm orthodox spin helped reduce England to 105 for four at stumps, as he picked up the wicket of England opener Sam Robson and threatened to take many more.

He was smartly exploiting the rough marks created by the bowlers' footmarks and his potency will only be higher on Day 5 as the pitch wears out further.

If his exploits on Day 4 put India en route to their first Test win away from home in three years, Jadeja has a chance of taking his team past the finish line on Monday with the ball.

More importantly, India have found in him a genuine batting all-rounder who can perform both home and away. His fearless brand of cricket could lead to a few disappointing scores and dismissals, but when his stars are aligned he can single-handedly change the complexion of a game with bat and ball, as he did on Sunday.

Jadeja has come a long way from being India's most mocked cricketer on social media when he first came on to the scene, to someone who is finally getting the respect and recognition that his talent deserves.

True to his cocky nature, he reminded everyone about it by posting the following message on Twitter after Sunday's play:

This roughly translates into: "Do not pass an opinion on me because my time will change and so will your opinion."

Point taken, Sir.