India show lost art of survival in modern-day Test Cricket as Gautam Gambhir oversaw the team’s grittiest draw since 2009.
India and their Old Trafford escape rekindles the art of Test survival.
India started the third innings with deficits of 314 and 334, respectively, but Gautam Gambhir hit match-saving hundreds in Napier and Ahmedabad in just eight months in 2009.
India, coached by Gambhir, drew the Old Trafford Test on Sunday after falling behind 311 runs at the beginning of the third innings.
In addition, these three represent the largest first-inning deficits that India has ever tolerated while batting third in order to salvage Test matches. They scored an incredible 180 overs in Manchester, 129 in Ahmedabad, and 180 in Napier.
Old Trafford served as a reminder of the spectacle that the fighting draw can provide, the technical skill and mental and physical stamina needed to execute one, and the subplots that go into its creation for a generation that rarely sees it.
Consider the scene just prior to England taking the second new ball, in which Shubman Gill, despite having a known batter at the other end, farmed the strike while facing Liam Dawson. This moment was the result of millions of years of development and the peculiarities of cricket’s geometry.
Dawson had only created seven false shots in 26 overs during the whole 188-run stand between Gill and KL Rahul, who bowled right and right together. Now that he could use those battered patches, Dawson created seven false shots in five overs when left-handed Washington Sundar batted with Gill. One of India’s many astute strategies as they fought their way to safety was Gill protecting Washington from the left-arm spinner.
It is much more likely to occur during a battle for survival, when runs are incidental, although test cricket is large enough to allow for such a sequence of play even when a team is seeking a victory.
The betrayal of this low bounce was nearly revealed when Rahul failed to hold one out on 90. Rahul’s defiance of Old Trafford’s uneven bounce had resembled Mark Waugh’s slip-catching in some ways. The bat came down straight and unhurried, and none of the imprecise jabbing you might expect against balls behaved completely against muscle memory, making the extraordinary appear effortless.
Despite all of that, this pitch was incredibly flat, and its slowness lessened the impact of its sporadic misbehaviour. India’s batsmen maintained an 87.8 control percentage throughout the third innings. In contrast, India saved the 2009 Ahmedabad Test at a score of 87.0.
There are two reasons why Old Trafford, a competition that is identical to that 2009 snoozefest, has made most of us feel good. First of all, the human brain has a propensity to interpret experiences by transforming them into narratives. at both match-saving innings, India lost the same amount of wickets, although they did so after partnerships of 81, 88, 40, and 66 at Ahmedabad. At Old Trafford, they were at 0 for 2, then they lost 2 for 34 following a third-wicket stand of 188 runs.
Old Trafford’s uniqueness value was the second thing Ahmedabad and countless previous “dull” draws that dot Test cricket history lacked. During those two years, Ahmedabad was the 27th draw in 87 Test matches. In 83 Test matches over the previous two years, Old Trafford was only the fifth draw.
If Old Trafford had been another draw in a period of drawn Test matches, all those factors could have been more apparent. However, we are not in 2009, and we are better off for it. The more uncommon the pull, the more alluring it is.