SecondEngland could hardly be more popular: the walls of the team hotel are covered with posters of their recent exploits under Ben Stokes. One of them read “Let us unfold our victory!” – a kind of reverse origami that, if realized on the captain’s 100th Test, would have ensured a 2-1 lead over India in the two-match series.
There was also the fact that Rehan Ahmed, one of their 30-strong traveling party, was easily turned away at the upcoming Rajkot airport on Monday night. Returning from a break during the team’s tour in Abu Dhabi, the leg-spinner accidentally hit the tarmac with an expired single-entry visa from leaving the country.
The England management feels the oversight is rather shoddy given the delay in Shoaib Bashir’s arrival to India last month, and is a welcome relief for a team that has lost Jack Leach to injury. That oversight could be costly, he said. Instead, immigration officials in the Gujarati city where Mahatma Gandhi received his education chose to be merciful.
Converting Ahmed’s 48-hour provisional document into a new visa remains a minor issue, but with two days before the third Test begins on Thursday, the voices from both committees have been positive. Perhaps Rajkot’s pairing with Leicester City, where the 19-year-old plays his cricket, could help his case.
On the eve of becoming the 16th player to reach 100 caps for England, Stokes seemed unconcerned. Even the milestone was met with little fuss from Stuart Broad, who joined the club in 2016, with Stokes insisting that as well as showing longevity it was just “one more than 99”, There is much more to be achieved.
Still, it was a reminder of how much he has evolved from the firebrand he emerged from the ashes of the 2013-14 Ashes, suffering a few setbacks along the way and now molding a team in his own image. (Similarly, Rajkot is a reminder that nothing is a given in cricket, predicting Haseeb Hameed’s dazzling debut here seven years ago. Destined to represent the national team in 100 games.)
It’s not like Stokes hasn’t thought beyond his playing career and he has revealed a desire to continue as a cricket coach. Given his influence as captain, especially in giving young players the confidence to progress, it’s the best thing for English cricket to do and not let it slip like a single-entry visa to and from the tour. Indian.
The five-match series is in interesting shape here and now, with England taking the lead in Hyderabad only to be leveled in Visakhapatnam. With Rajkot likely to host the third Test, Stokes’ mantra of taking draws off the table – which he reiterated on Tuesday – was put to the test on a surface that remains traditionally true.
All eyes are on the pitch, where the green hue may or may not be retained. In 2016, in the same tournament, Alastair Cook set a conservative target of 311 in at least 49 overs, eventually holding India to a six-wicket draw. Virat Kohli, the then India captain, blamed the grass left behind for the ground’s failure to break up.
“I remember coming off the field thinking, ‘We’ve got them’…and we lost four-nil,” Stokes recalled with a wry smile of the stalemate. “In a situation like this, if you want to gain something, you have to take some risks. I don’t get much enjoyment out of draws. I’d rather lose in the fight to win.”
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Add to that the need to win what looks like an important game, plus negotiating Jasprit Bumrah and finding ways to neutralize the in-form Yashasvi Jaiswal. Small issue, England probably didn’t need to push the game further and open up the back of the game. It’s just a collective attack, but when it happens, there’s an individual hunger.
All but three of England’s 15 Test wins in India came with at least a century. A performance like the one in the second Test of the series, where Zak Crawley scored 76 and 73 in two innings while the rest of England’s batsmen made 11 between 20 and 47 points, a performance like this is unlikely to cut it.
While Stokes is considering recalling Mark Wood to replace the spinner, Rohit Sharma is considering making up to four changes to the winning XI. Sarfaraz Khan, who averages 69.85 in first-class cricket, is about to make his debut, as is Dhruv Jurel behind the stumps. KS Bharat’s poor performance with the bat was responsible for the latter, although his glove work was excellent. Among the bowlers, Mohammed Siraj has just returned from rest while Ravindra Jadeja is expected to feature on his home wicket with his injured hamstring being braced.
All of this threatens to make the home team sound like they are on the run, when in fact they are still favorites for this match even if Kohli is ruled out of the series. England may feel welcome with their return and much of the attention will be on Stokes, but they are unlikely to be simply released.
