Anis Sajan, Mr Cricket UAE, discusses the fate of the World Test Championship final with Gulf News editors.
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00:00India did not have the day they expected when they were 144-3 to begin with.
00:12Hello everyone. Welcome back to Straight Bad with Gulf News and Mr Cricket UAE. That is Anish
00:16Sarjan. Besides Anish, I have with me Gautam Bhattacharya as we discuss day three of the World
00:22Test Championship in Southampton, England. Day three is kind of mixed bag. We lost some
00:29some some of the play today to bad light and we had an early closure. In fact, early in the sense
00:35the extended play was closed early but we finally had some play today. But not all good news for
00:42India. What do you say Anish? Good evening Shyam. Good evening Gautam and all the beautiful people
00:48of Gulf News. Yes, India did not have the day they expected when they were 144-3 to begin with.
00:55They were bowled out by New Zealand for just 217. Thanks mainly to Kyle Jemison's brilliant spell
01:02once again. Very chipped in with five wickets. Caught the crucial of Virat Kohli's wicket early
01:06in the morning and after that probably a couple of loose shots once by Rishabh Pant as well as by
01:14the said batsman Rahane and then 217 was I felt around 50 odd runs short and when India came on
01:22to bowl probably they did the same mistake what New Zealanders did yesterday. Not bowling and
01:27making the batsman play. They bowled quite short and we're not pitching it up and hence New Zealand
01:33are at a position where they will be happy. 101-2. India lucky to get a wicket in the just
01:39a fag end of the match at also of the said Devon Conn. We need to see what happens tomorrow.
01:45Gautam, India didn't bowl so well. What do you think where we went wrong with the Indian
01:50bowlers because the New Zealand bowlers were swinging the ball all over the place but India
01:56hardly got enough swing or not as much swing as the New Zealand bowlers. Exactly, Shah.
02:04I mean, if the New Zealand bowlers were accused of not pitching it up enough yesterday,
02:12Indian fast bowlers left a little, quite a bit to be desired, I think. I mean, of course,
02:18Mohammad Shami was quite a bit unlucky on occasions. He had Tom Latham in all kinds of
02:24trouble but I was quite disappointed with the way Bumrah didn't bowl whom we know.
02:32Ishaan got a few to ship away from the left-handers but yes, I mean,
02:39their overall cumulative performance left a fair bit to be desired. Ultimately, it was left to
02:45Ashwin to give the breakthrough and finally towards the end, Ishaan had the last laugh.
02:50So, Indians will be breathing a little easy because as we were discussing yesterday
02:56that New Zealand will be batting last and there's a fair bit of cricket left to be played in this game.
03:04At least, Bumrah was totally off-color, isn't it? He gave it too many runs and also didn't seem
03:09to be effective enough. You can say that, Shyam, when you see an analysis where he's given
03:1734 runs of 11 overs and the most important thing with most of the Indian fast bowlers rather all
03:25the three fast bowlers, as I said in my initial start, they were not pitching the ball up. They
03:30were too short and either it was too on the leg side and that is what New Zealand batsmen did.
03:38They made sure that they left the ball. They played that boring sort of a cricket which is
03:42required in Test match cricket that you make the bowler come to you, then you go to the bowler.
03:47And that is what Tom Latham as well as Devan Conway did. They ensured that they left the
03:52balls outside the Austum and when the bowlers had no choice, were trying something different,
03:58they bowled on the pads and they were taken for runs.
04:01I mean, one of the things which was put forward by the experts is Indians were bowling a little
04:06too fast in the 140s, whereas New Zealand bowlers kept it around 130, which got them more movement
04:13because if you see that even in the later stages, even the old ball, they were swinging it.
04:19Whereas if you look at the margin of swing, Indians were not getting that much of swing
04:23and especially when you don't make the batsman play, then you have more problems.
04:26How did you make of the Indian spinners?
04:30Basically, I think Ashwin did bulk of the bowling really for spinners and Dhadaja barely got three overs.
04:37So, forward from here, where do you see their role in this match?
04:42Gautam, you can take that.
04:44Yes, Shyam. See, the thing is when Ashwin came on to bowl, I mean, he wasn't getting
04:51much of an assistance from the wicket. When Dhadaja came on to bowl, I mean, there was a
04:58fair bit of bowler's footwork emerging for the left-hander backhand.
05:04So, I think, when you look at the Indian spinners, I mean, there was a fair bit of
05:10bowler's footwork emerging for the left-hander batsman.
05:15But he also couldn't keep it to good use. But I think, I still get a feeling that
05:23come day three, the spinners may have a better role to play and they will have to.
05:30Because you see, in this three, among the three Indian bowlers whom we are playing,
05:34only Ishant is a superior bowler in terms of
05:41getting the swing compared to the New Zealand threesome or the foursome.
05:47Because once again, Bumrah couldn't rise to the occasion. Let us see what kind of
05:54bag of tricks he produces tomorrow with the awkward bounce or whatever. Because Bumrah
06:00and Shami, essentially, they rely a lot on what's happening of the day.
06:05So, it's a bit of, I mean, there was certainly form wanting today. But I think spinners
06:11will have gradually an increasing role to play come day three with a little bit more
06:15volunteer on the way. True, it is not a bad day in office for Bumrah. Hopefully,
06:22he can come back stronger tomorrow. But having said that, did we miss Siraj today?
06:27It's too early now to talk about, rather, I would say too late to talk about Siraj.
06:35I'll be very honest. In hindsight, you can say now in India, bowled out for 217.
06:40Yesterday at 144-3, we felt that probably New Zealand missed Astana. Today, after being bowled
06:46out for 217, we feel that we missed a fast bowler. Yes, I might agree to your point to an extent.
06:52Because when you see New Zealand bowling 92 overs of swing and seam bowling, and India,
06:58out of the 49 overs, India has bowled in that 15 overs of spin. So, that is 25% of the bowling
07:05has been done by spin, which in this condition is a bit baffling. And you can't expect in English
07:12conditions where the ball is seeming and swinging. 25% of the bowling is done by the spinners,
07:18because India have taken those two spinners. So yes, if you say India is missing Siraj,
07:24because they haven't taken him. But now they have taken the spinners, they have to make them bowl.
07:28But having said that, this cricket, like they say, you need to be having a lot of patience,
07:36whether you are batting or whether you are bowling. Now, as they said, yes, we were talking
07:40about the batsmen have to leave a lot of balls. Similarly, the bowlers also have to ensure that
07:45they keep bowling in that right channel, keep bowling at the same channel. Okay, easier said
07:49than done. And the batsmen will make a mistake. Okay, like Gautam said, a couple of times,
07:54Shami got the ball to lift and got that top edge going over the slip. But I'm afraid that was still
07:59not the length. As I said, the bowlers were like, hit the deck. You need to pitch the ball further
08:04up for the ball to swing. Gautam, did we miss Siraj there?
08:21Did I have made a difference?
08:28Yes, yes. I mean, my point is, it's a very hypothetical question on the third day of the
08:33test match. But it seemed like, you know, we were missing that genuine swing bowler who
08:39responds to the English conditions. And that's where I was thinking about Govindeshwar Kumar
08:44today that he is missing from the squad because the team management were not very sure about
08:51whether he can take the workload of bowling 15 to 20 overs in a test match day.
08:56I mean, he is always the right fit for any England tour. But once again,
09:02you know, these are ifs and buts. We definitely missed somebody who can, you know, pitch the
09:10ball to get the maximum swing out of that. That's the basic. And genuine swing bowler,
09:18that's the basic. And as I think you were saying that rather than, you know, trying to
09:25increase their, you know, clicks in the delivery, I mean, you bowl if need be, you be in control,
09:32and pitch fuller up, induce them to those mistakes. That's what was not happening. But they
09:38have the experience. I'm sure if Bharat Arun gives them a pep talk, I mean, he had been working with
09:43this unit for a long time. And Ishant in particular, I would still like to have faith in him
09:50that, you know, he can bounce back tomorrow.
09:55Yeah, let's rewind a little bit and come back to the Indian batting. I mean, again, this is,
10:01I'll come back to you, Gautam, here. And he said that India finished 50 runs late,
10:07because yesterday he had said with 27 good total for India at bat, about to be finished
10:12on 217, which is more than 50 short. Do you think that 50 runs short will hurt India?
10:20I mean, but as I said, that there is still, I mean, New Zealand, that
10:30second wicket looked like it just kind of rattled their plans a bit. So again,
10:34tomorrow morning, how things go, even if India finish, say about, you know, 30-40 runs adrift,
10:41their batting does have the depth to make up for it. And, you know, they can look at something like
10:46a 200-ish target for the fourth innings, then there could be some interesting cricket waiting
10:52to be played. I am just perplexed by the swinging,
11:00shift in fortunes, because we in the preview, we were saying that this India's lack of preparation
11:06and also the England's, I mean, New Zealand's acclimatization, they've been there, they played
11:11two test matches with England. So they are better prepared. And given India's yesterday's
11:16performance, it was encouraging. But today, the old habits came in.
11:23At least lost balls by chasing wider deliveries, which have been left alone.
11:28And all those old demons are back. So where do we go from here in terms of bat? You look at even
11:36the last three wickets fell in the matter of four balls, really.
11:40Well, like you mentioned about India's style of batting in England, especially going after the
11:46ball, which is outside the off-sum. If you look at Rohit Sharma's dismissal, Shubman Gill's dismissal,
11:51Rishabh Pant's dismissal, Ravi Chandran Ashwin's dismissal, they were all probably
11:56two balls which could have been left alone. That's what you require in England to be playing
12:01a traditional type of test cricket. This is not a wicket where you can play the Sevak type of
12:06innings where you can slash your bat and get away. There is a ball which is going to have your name
12:11on it and you're going to nick it. And that's what Virat Kohli showed on this wicket. And so
12:16did Ajinkya Rahane by ensuring that they played late and made sure that they left the good balls
12:22outside the off-sum. The moment you try and play that up-pitch drive and the ball is pitched up,
12:27you are going to nick it in the slips. And you saw anything which went behind the wickets,
12:31although the slip was well taken by the New Zealanders. And this is again going to be
12:35tested in the second innings. As Gautam said, India can come back into the game
12:40with the New Zealand just 116 away from our target. But if their bats second well.
12:45Again, if they do the same mistakes, New Zealand are going to bowl the same channel.
12:49You need to grind it out and make sure that it's not... Don't worry about the run rate.
12:54Two, two and a half run rate is good enough in test cricket. Got to play the traditional way.
12:59Take your singles. You will get the loose ball from the bowlers and make them count.
13:06Gautam, Kyle Jamieson is Ani's favourite bowler. He's been...
13:16Earlier on in the preview yesterday, he was his favourite bowler. Today he came up with
13:20five wickets or more. So what was the difference between him and the Indian bowlers?
13:31The difference effectively was bowling full up. Bowling full up and from the height that
13:37he delivers the ball. I mean, see, he was even yesterday, he was not focusing on
13:43trying to bowl quick. He was the guy among even when the experienced campaigners like
13:49Bolt and Saudi were found little wanting in getting their length right. He was the guy who
13:56was doing it all right. And today also he showed that in this New Zealand pace battery or
14:03in the years to come, he would be their go-to man, if he can keep his form and fitness more
14:09importantly, because he's such a tall guy, we'll have to see what kind of
14:14battering his body takes. But he would probably...
14:21New Zealand would possibly make him play just test cricket and be one of their
14:24finest weapons in the years to come.
14:29And I was just looking at the stats out of the 92 over New Zealand bowlers, 33 of them were
14:34maidens. That's one third, quite a bit, isn't it? That shows how accurate they were and
14:38they kept on coming at the Indians. So New Zealand 116 behind India's.
14:45Anish, how much do you think they will make? I mean, just your hunch.
14:51Well, yesterday when we had the show, India were 142 for three, today New Zealand are 101 for two.
14:57So not much separates what was there yesterday. But when you look at the end score of India,
15:02the gap is only 116. But yesterday when India closed, we thought of 270,
15:09but India bowled out 270. So what you are asking me is that how much New Zealand will close will
15:14depend upon how the Indian bowlers bowl and most importantly, the captain will have to be patient.
15:20You know, as I mentioned, test cricket is a game of patience, as much as it is for the bowler and
15:25the batsman, it is also for the captain, where he needs to be patient, calm and not get edgy,
15:31because as spectators, when you watch, you expect that a wicket to fall on every ball.
15:35But you've got to wait, wait, wait, and you back that bowler who's bowling you the right length
15:41on line and you will reap benefits out of it. So if I have to sum it up, I don't see New Zealand
15:48going ahead of 250, 260. If India can restrict them to around a lead of maximum 50, India can
15:55come back into the game, as Gautam mentioned.
15:59Gautam, what do you think? How much difference are they likely to make?
16:05Well, New Zealand have shown the kind of discipline which is very heartening. I mean,
16:10that is the only difference that playing those two test matches in English conditions
16:16would have made. I mean, Devon Conway and Tom Latham, you know, in terms of reputation,
16:24if you place Rohit Sharma and Shubhman Gill next to them, you know, but that's the typical
16:31New Zealand approach. I mean, low profile, quietly doing what is required to be done.
16:36I mean, Latham is a guy, he was, you know, he was not the prettiest of sight today.
16:42But in the 30 runs that he scored, it was simply priceless. Conway, on the other hand, you know,
16:48Conway, once he had settled in, I mean, I quite liked his body language. And once he took on
16:53Ashwin in one of his initial overs, because he found that the delivery is there to be hit.
17:01So, I won't be surprised if New Zealand take it in the region of 300 or thereabouts. But
17:07then India will have a genuine problem. If they can restrict to them, you know,
17:11to the lead to something between 35-40 runs, then India can, of course, India historically
17:17is always better in the second innings of a test match. So then India can make a match.
17:23Actually, I was looking at how New Zealand fared against England. If you look at that,
17:31they were the one Conway did the bulk of the score. So India has him in the pavilion,
17:37which is something positive for them, really. But the problem with down the order is
17:47Ross Hattling loves Indian bowling. So if you look at history, they have
17:51always scored well against India. So that is, to me, that's a worrying thing.
17:59If you get guys on, because they can be a thorn on India's side. But like you both of you said,
18:05I mean, it all depends on how India pull themselves back. And how do you think the
18:11captaincy went today? Like Kohli, like you said, is a man who likes to make things happen,
18:15who's eager. And was he patient enough today? Or did you see, did he miss a trick today?
18:25Not really, he was good. I felt he was all the time egging his bowlers. And he will be tested
18:31tomorrow, when New Zealand probably run away with the game. At the moment, the game, I would say,
18:37New Zealand, like yesterday, I meant India 60%. Today, I would say New Zealand is 65%
18:43ahead. So tomorrow, we'll have to see his captaincy, where he doesn't get edgy. He needs to
18:49keep egging his bowlers to make sure that they bowl the right line and keep backing them. And
18:55that is why he's one of the most successful captains India has. But as I said, in English
18:59conditions, you need to be patient, like how you are patient in Indian condition, where you wait
19:04for the spinners to do the job. And in this time, Virat Kohli will have to back his bowlers. And
19:09I'm sure, like Gautam mentioned, that they will have a chat with their bowling coach Bharat Arun,
19:14that what mistakes they made today, the same way what New Zealand made in the first day,
19:19probably in the first hour of the game. If India can correct and pitch the ball up,
19:24I think Virat Kohli will not have to worry. Unless Indian bowlers repeat the same mistake,
19:29then he'll have to probably think of different ideas. But we hope for the best that India can
19:33bounce back with his bowlers tomorrow, and especially Jasprit Brumrah, who looked off colour
19:36today. Gautam, how can India come back into this game? Yeah, I mean, it's simple. Firstly,
19:45both Mohammed Shami and Brumrah, they have to be told that they're not
19:50bowling in an Australian wicket. They're bowling in an English wicket where the length
19:56is slightly different. And that should make the difference, number one. Number two, he
20:02tried a few things with Ashwin, bringing him on in the 15th over. So, he was as innovative
20:10as he can be. But then again, he brought Jadeja as late as I think in the 40th
20:16over or 41st over. So, it remains to be seen whether the Indian captain
20:24himself was convinced about his decision of having this extra spinner at this point. But
20:30the job has to be left on these three seamans. They have to be your main man. And they have to
20:36correct their length and come back hard at the rest of the New Zealand top-order batting.
20:44Ashwin can be there to create the doubts and pick up the odd
20:48breakthroughs. But the bulk of the bowling has to be done by the other three.
20:53I agree there totally. And like both of you said earlier, the spinners,
20:57actually, the real value we'll see only on the third and fourth days.
21:01But as of now, yes, the seamans have to shoulder much of the burden.
21:06And also, I was quite glad to see, I mean, it's something which Ashwin always does.
21:13Ashwin knows that he's not getting much purchase on the weekend. But so, he's been
21:17tossing the ball up, trying to deceive them in flight. In fact, that's precisely what happened
21:21with Tom Latham. I think he misled the fight, really. So, we hope that more of that happens
21:27tomorrow. And what do we expect to see tomorrow? Anisbhai?
21:34Well, like you mentioned that now Virat Kohli will definitely look upon his Trump spinner,
21:40Ashwin, to bowl the right length and get him the wickets or probably hold one end tight.
21:47You know what? They have a couple of more left-handers to follow. Like,
21:50already you have now lost to today Devin Conway and Tom Latham, two left-handers. But they have
21:56Nicholas, who also is a very steady batsman. So, there's one more left-hander left. So,
22:02we need to see how Ashwin bowls. Because there are some batsmen, as I was mentioning, that some
22:07batsmen you need to pitch it up, some batsmen you need to bowl short. So, depending on if you've
22:12done their homework, you have to bowl. Now, coming to Ashwin, Ashwin has also got the better
22:16of Kane Williamson. We were just checking his record. Williamson doesn't have a good record
22:22against Ashwin. So, if we can prise out Kane Williamson and send him back early, Ashwin,
22:28when the captain is back in the dugout, there's always a little bit of panic.
22:32And if Ashwin or the fast bowlers definitely are going to bowl tomorrow first,
22:36can knock off Williamson, we are back in the game.
22:40Yeah, I completely agree there. Because Williamson's wicket is key. And normally,
22:45he normally drops the sheet and the roll there. So, if we can get him early, I think we can find
22:52ourselves way back into the game. Now, Gautam, did you have a look at the weather? How is it
22:58forecast for tomorrow?
22:59Bad.
23:00No, not really, Shyam. I mean, today, I was quite happy with what I saw. But tomorrow,
23:09what Ashwin did... Anishbhai, keep a look about the forecast.
23:14I did definitely. I definitely saw. You know what, yesterday when I saw,
23:19it said it's going to rain till one o'clock. But the weather forecast changed in the morning.
23:23And today when I'm seeing the weather, it says it's going to rain again till two o'clock and
23:28three o'clock. But English weather, as I've said many times, is like reading the mind of a woman.
23:33So, you don't know what's going to turn up tomorrow.
23:36English weather, you can never predict. But any final thoughts before we wind up for the day,
23:43Gautam?
23:46Yeah, I think most of it has been covered by you two. I think, for India, they have to,
23:52and they will go back to the drawing board. And I'm sure that they will know what to do.
23:57One thing is there, you know, the India's test simmers, they haven't done much bowling in this,
24:03you know, the last bulk of bowling that they shouldered a long space that the board wasn't
24:09actually Australian. In India, that test series, which we played against England, and which was
24:16over in a jiffy. It was the spinners, the Ashwins and Akshar Patel's doing the work. So, I remember
24:24one of the commentators also saying that, that in these heavy underfoot conditions, you have to give
24:29the, however experienced the simmers are, give them little time to get into their own and
24:36fast bowling is a matter of rhythm, as we know. So, we may see some improvement tomorrow. And
24:42the New Zealand batting with all respect, like, it's still so heavily reliant on,
24:48at this point, now with the openers gone, at this point on Williamson and Taylor and then
24:55Watling, the lower order does not pull that much of a weight. So,
25:02India have got a good chance to come back in this.
25:06Aneesh, do you agree with Agpartam's assessment?
25:10Well, he's right that after Watling, they don't have much. But I remember Kyle Jemison was not
25:17only successful with the ball, but also with the bat. Tim Soudian all can throw his bat. And India's
25:22always big problem has been to polish off the tail. So, we hope they can. And now I'm just
25:26going through the weather. The weather forecast is at 10 o'clock 69% rain, 11 o'clock 74% rain,
25:3412 o'clock 79% rain, 1 o'clock 80% rain, 2 o'clock 77% rain. So, it's showing rain, rain, rain.
25:46Now, as I said, this is a BBC weather. We have to wait and watch tomorrow,
25:49how the weather turns out to be.
25:52I hope the weather holds up because we are in for some real treat tomorrow.
25:57So, thank you very much for joining us for this coverage of The Ultimate Test.
26:03Please log on to gulfnews.com for the latest updates. Also, our social media channels,
26:08the Facebook and the Instagram. Thank you very much. Good night.
26:12Thank you, Shyam. Thank you, Gautam. Just before we sign up, today is a very historic
26:16day for Indian cricket. You know, 25 years ago, both Dada and Dravid had made their debut
26:21at Lords in 1996. Dada went on to score a 100 on his debut and Dravid was unlucky, got on 95. So,
26:29quite a historic day for Indians and rest is history as both have played more than
26:33100 Test matches for India. And I had a word with Dada. He said it was a proud moment for me.
26:38Oh, wonderful. And I think either today or tomorrow is completing Virat's 10 years of
26:47Test cricket as well. Oh, is it? Yeah, that's what I heard from one of the expert panel
26:54people. So, they will do their research well. So, that's very international. I'm sorry.
27:00All right. So, the rest of the team was present for
27:06Virat Puli. So, nothing better than having you here.
27:10Yes, very true. Very true, Shyam. Fair enough.