IND vs ENG: A Unique England Vs India Test Series Which Stretched Over Two English Seasons

IND vs ENG:  A Unique England Vs India Test Series Which Stretched Over Two English Seasons (Image Source: )

The 2021-22 series between England and India is called an epic, historic and unprecedented. This was a unique series as it stretched across two English summers. Four Tests were played in 2021 and the last Test was played in 2022. By the end of the fourth Test, India had a 2-1 lead, with wins recorded at the Lord’s and at the Oval.

The script changed thereafter as the final Test was postponed to 2022 and there England’s ‘Bazball’ bravado chased down 378  with hundreds from Jonny Bairstow and Joe Root, to level the series 2-2.

This fifth and final Test match of the scheduled 2021 series was called off in controversial fashion after some of the senior Indian players refused to take the field in Manchester after a COVID-19 breakout within the Indian camp. The Indian camp reported that the  head coach Ravi Shastri and some of his support staff including bowling coach Bharat Arun, fielding coach R Sridhar and physio Nitin Patel had tested positive for the dreaded virus. The series was stopped in between abruptly.

At that time, the news was that the match was cancelled indefinitely. In general, the media blamed Shastri’s private book launch event, held a few hours for this all, for spreading the virus as the biosecure bubble was breached there. Several senior members of the Indian team, including captain Virat Kohli, had attended this private event and were seen roaming around without any masks and meeting the guests.

The reports in the English media also stated that the reason for the withdrawal by the Indian players was to please their IPL sides by joining the team camps in UAE as soon as possible. Another theory was that it was just a ploy to tarnish the image of Indian players and much envied and popular T20 league, the IPL.

If the series had continued with the scheduled fifth Test at Manchester, India had a chance to register their first multi-game bilateral men's Test series victory against England at their home since 2007. However, all changed and on 10th September 2021, the ECB announced the Test as “cancelled” shortly before 9am – less than two hours before the toss. India waited a further two hours to release a statement saying this was a “joint decision” and they will look to reschedule the match later.

So India lost the advantage of leading 2-1, when the match was called off . Then in October 2021 it was announced that the pending fifth and final Test of the series, is rescheduled to July next year. Also the game was moved to Edgbaston and formed to be a part of India's white-ball tour. The Test was ultimately held from July 1. Tickets purchased for the 2021 fifth Test remained valid for the  rearranged Test, although the venue was changed.

It was clear that India failed to press its advantage in the series and agreed to the ECB proposal that the rescheduled match would be an extension of the series and not a standalone game. Initially, India wanted the match to be cancelled and  they were declared the series winner with a 2-1 margin .

England, thus played its cards well and made India agree to come back next year and finish off the series by playing the pending fifth Test, nine months and 26 days later. Even by Test cricket’s standards, starting a Test of the same series after 299 days was a long time to wait and it disturbed India’s winning tempo . India were the better side in 2021, deserved to be 2-1 winners but BCCI failed to press the advantage and to be declared Trophy winners .

On the other hand, the rescheduling was an altogether win-win situation for England. By playing the Test, they  saved  around £ 30 m in broadcast and sponsorship revenue as well gate money. Also England had a good record at Edgbaston and being the bigger ground, can fit more fans, bringing extra revenue.

Once the news of the cancellation was confirmed, Indian players rushed to the UAE to join their respective IPL teams to finish the incomplete IPL season. The IPL was stopped due to Covid and the second half was shifted to UAE to complete it before the T20 World Cup. It’s on record that within a few hours of cancellation of the match,  Rohit Sharma, SKY and Bumrah had joined Mumbai Indians camp in Dubai by taking the chartered plane, arranged by the franchisee for them.

“Let’s be honest, this is all about money and the IPL,” former England captain turned pundit Michael Vaughan wrote in a column for The Telegraph.

“The Test has been cancelled because players were petrified of catching covid and missing the IPL.In a week or so we will be watching the IPL and the players will be running around smiling and happy. But they should have trusted the PCR tests. We know a lot about this virus now. We know how to manage and handle it better. Players are double vaccinated, and biosecurity can be raised very quickly.”

Vaughan found it staggering India could not find 11 players from their touring party of 20 to play and believed the match should have been played.

When the series resumed in 2022, a lot had changed, particularly India missing the same intensity which was visible in 2021. India players were still in IPL mood and were not prepared for the single Test in England all over again, both physical and mental.On the other hand, suddenly England were the favourites after having clean -swept New Zealand in a three Test series.

England achieved a record chase of 378 to beat India on the final morning of the fifth Test at Edgbaston. With the hundreds from Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow, England recorded their highest successful pursuit in Test cricket and overall the ninth-largest in the Tests.

This win is considered to be one of their all-time greatest victories in front of a near capacity crowd.

Some highlights:

* In 2021 India played 8 Tests against England – 4 each in India and England.                                       

* In an unprecedented decision, the ECB  brought the start time of the Test, forward to 10:30am instead of the usual 11am slot to accommodate subcontinent viewers.

*  The management of both the sides had undergone a change : Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes taking over as coach and captain respectively from Chris Silverwood and Joe Root and similarly, Virat Kohli and Ravi Shastri were replaced by Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid. However, in the absence of Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah led the side, India's first bowler captain since Anil Kumble, their first fast-bowler captain since Kapil Dev, the first-ever specialist fast bowler to captain India and India's eighth captain in international cricket since Rahul Dravid took over as coach.

*Ravindra Jadeja (194-ball 104) hit his first overseas Test hundred and third overall . 

*Rishabh Pant hit a hundred off 89 balls and made 146 off 111 balls with 19 fours and four sixes,  scoring  133 of the stand of 222 for the sixth wicket off 239 balls, with Jadeja.

 Charanpal Singh Sobti