Geoffrey Boycott: 'India are ripe for the taking and England have a golden chance'
Geoffrey Boycott: 'India are ripe for the taking and England have a golden chance'
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Geoffrey Boycott feels India skipper Rohit Sharma is “past his prime” and the hosts badly missed the leadership duties of Virat Kohli in the first Test against England in Hyderabad. India were in a strong position after the first innings but took the foot of the gas to allow England to creep into the contest before sealing it by 28 runs.
India had taken the field without Kohli who is missing the first two Test matches due to personal reasons. Without Kohli, the onus of helming the batting display fell on Rohit who couldn’t fire with scores of 24 and 39 runs. Chasing 231 runs, India crumbled against debutant Tom Hartley’s spin-bowling to fall short.
“This India team are ripe for the taking and England have a golden chance to be the first side to topple them on their own patch for 12 years,” Boycott wrote in his column for ‘The Daily Telegraph’.
“India badly miss Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja has a hamstring injury and will not play the second Test. Their captain Rohit Sharma is nearly 37 and past his best. He makes pretty cameos but has scored only two Test hundreds at home in four years. They are also weak in the field. They dropped Ollie Pope on 110 and that cost them 86 runs. It lost them the match.”
R Ashwin, Jadeja and Axar Patel looked clueless on a spin-friendly but not exactly dust-bowl of a Hyderabad wicket. England’s batters came out with perfect strategy, using sweeps and reverse sweeps to great effect.
“England bamboozled India with their sweeps and reverse sweeps and to lose after taking a 190-run lead will be mind-blowing for India. It has never happened to them before on their own pitches where they thought they were invincible,” Boycott wrote.
To make things worse for the hosts, they will be without KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja for the second Test. The duo picked up injuries and will miss the next Test, starting 2 February, in Visakhapatnam. Because of the balance that he brings into the playing XI, Jadeja’s absence will be massive feels the former England opener.
“Jadeja is a huge blow. He is a great all-rounder, top bowler, brilliant fielder and was their best batsman in the first Test. Kohli is their talisman. He is a magnificent batsman who averages 60 on Indian pitches but he also gives them great energy in the field. He is a big loss and England must make the most of it before he comes back for the third Test,” Boycott wrote.
He believes that England have India on the mat and could well be hosts’ first series defeat since 2012.
“Once in a while a team are in the right place at the right time to clinch a big series win and England could be in that position right now in India. India are due a (series) defeat at home, the signs are good as they have lost Kohli, Jadeja, Mohammed Shami and Rishabh Pant and are playing opponents full of confidence after a remarkable win. England must take this rare opportunity,” he further wrote.
