The fifth Test match between India and England was a perfect opportunity for some of the Indian players to showcase their batting prowess in English conditions. In the absence of senior players like Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul, others had a good chance to put forwards their cases. The Indian team had several young players in the playing XI, who are yet to secure their spot.
The match witnessed some fantastic batting performances by Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja. Indian skipper Jasprit Bumrah’s all-rounder performance and Mohammed Siraj’s brilliant bowling was also on display at the Edgbaston in Birmingham. However, as the match heads into day five, some of the Indian players will be disappointed with their performance in the match.
In this article, we take a look at three Indian players who failed to make the most of the opportunity in the fifth Test against England.
#3 Shreyas Iyer
Shreyas Iyer’s weakness against the short deliveries has been well exploited by the England pacers in the fifth Test match at the Edgbaston in Birmingham. They dismissed him with the short delivery ploy in both innings. In the first innings, the right-handed batter tried to play a glance against short angling in delivery by James Anderson.
However, the ball took the edge and was caught by Sam Billings. The England wicket-keeper took a brilliant diving catch to dismiss Shreyas Iyer. In the second innings as well, England kept three fielders on the boundary for a false shot. Matty Potts bowled a short head high delivery, which Shreyas pulled straight towards the mid-wicket fielder.
The 27-year-old managed only thirty-four runs in the match. This was his first Test match in England. Shreyas replaced Ajinkya Rahane in the playing XI, from the previous Test matches against England. Unfortunately, could not grab the chance with both hands.
#2 Shubman Gill
Regular openers KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma were unavailable for the fifth Test match against England. In their absence, Shubman Gill got an opportunity to open the innings along with Cheteshwar Pujara. However, he failed to make the most of it.
Shubman Gill got out very early in both innings. Veteran England pacer James Anderson made him his victim off an off-stump delivery in the first innings. The opener pushed at the delivery, and the ball took the edge. The catch was taken by Zak Crawley at the second slip.
The Indian cricketer again fell to Anderson in the second innings in a somewhat similar fashion. He went hard at a good length delivery, which shaped away and was caught by Crawley in the slips cordon. Gill managed just 21 runs in the fifth Test match.
#1 Hanuman Vihari
Hanuma Vihari is another batter who could not make much of an impact in the fifth Test match. He spent a decent amount of time at the crease in both innings, but couldn’t capitalize on it. Vihari walked out to bat at number three in the match. In the first innings, he was lbw to Matty Potts for twenty runs.
Potts bowled a pitched-up delivery to Vihari, who played down the wrong line. He was plumb in front of the wickets. In the second innings, Vihari played a loose drive to get out against Stuart Broad for just eleven runs.
The right-handed batter fell for England’s trap of bowling wide delivery outside off-stump. He went chasing the delivery and was caught by Jonny Bairstow. The match was a perfect opportunity for Hanuma Vihari to consolidate his position in the Indian playing XI, however, he failed in his attempt.
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