15 August marks the greatest event in Indian History, Independence Day and to celebrate it the Indian players kept walking towards the pavilion in a similar fashion to what they have been doing in the entire series so far. The parade was led by the skipper whose technique might not be considered for English conditions, but he was the only batsman who looked comfortable against the moving ball. The fact that MS Dhoni has accumulated runs at a healthy average of 42 while batting with the tail-enders demonstrates his patience.
Talking about the pillars of Indian Batting line-up, Kohli and Pujara have been a flop in England. A total of 315 runs in 16 innings between these two players have led to India’s downfall in this series. Kohli’s batting average of 12.66 clearly shows that he has been out of touch. India’s jewel glitter might well finish the series acclaiming the record for most disappointing 5 match test series ever compiled by a high class top order batsman.
Kohli has shown that he has the talent to dominate in the longer version: His 119 and 96 in Johannesburg last December were knocks of great class but he failed to play up to his name in this series which might decrease his brand value as a cricketer. This might well be a series to forget for him.
Talking about the new wall of Indian Cricket, Cheteshwar Pujara has been badly out of form after the good tours he had in New Zealand and South Africa where he scored heavily. Pujara’s foot movement has been tentative in the entire series as he managed 211 runs at an average of 23.44 which is quite far from his best. His horror show with the bat continued in the 5 test where he was bowled by Broad for just 4 runs.
Pujara has made his reputation as a players who loves to play long innings. As of 30 June 2014 Pujara has best average (58.93) by any Indian batsman but it seems that he completely lost his technical touch. It may be attributed to the fact that he has been continuously exposed to the new ball after Dhawan failed to score at the top.
England are 2-1 up in the series and after a flop show in the first innings, India are on the verge of another overseas series loss until and unless the two “big guns” fire in the next innings.
