Age no bar: Bhuvneshwar has shown that he is not done yet at the top level.
| Photo Credit: FILE PHOTO: K.R. DEEPAK

To be installed the overwhelming favourite ahead of any major sporting extravaganza is a double-edged sword. The moniker is suggestive of a formidable individual (or team) clearly more skilled, more temperamentally adjusted, and the most likely to go all the way, but it also comes with a rider. You are marked; the rest will be doubly determined to hunt you down and add a coveted scalp to their kitty.

Long before a single ball was bowled at the Asian Games, the Indian men’s cricket team was fancied to come up trumps. The women too, of course, considering that they had just blazed to the Asia Cup in Dubai, sweeping everyone in front of them. Harmanpreet Kaur’s intrepid bunch kept its tryst with gold in commanding fashion, brooking no opposition and flexing its not inconsiderable muscle with aplomb. Immediately thereafter, the spotlight turned to Shreyas Iyer and his lads, up against four other continental Test-playing nations who chose to put out experimental rather than full-strength outfits.

One of the talking points in the lead-up to the Asiad was why India’s selectors had chosen to go with the tried and the tested. People harked back to the previous event in Hangzhou three years back, when Ruturaj Gaikwad led a second-string team to the gold medal after the final against Afghanistan was washed out, and wondered why a similar squad wasn’t pieced together. For more than one reason, it is apparent.

The previous Asian Games overlapped with the 50-over World Cup hosted by India, thereby comprehensively ruling out the presence in China of the main squad. There is no gainsaying what personnel the selectors would have picked in the absence of the said overlap; that’s delving into the realms of the hypothetical, which serves little purpose.

This time around too, India were involved in a three-match One-Day International series against West Indies at home; the first of the ODIs was played on September 27, a day before Shreyas’ boys began their title defence in the quarterfinal against Afghanistan. While there are several players who are certainties in both white-ball formats internationally, India weren’t too weakened by the absence from the 50-over set-up of Shreyas, the ODI vice-captain, and Ishan Kishan. Sure, they missed bowling spearheads Jasprit Bumrah and Axar Patel – Shubman Gill’s unit conceded more than 1000 runs to the Caribbeans in the three fixtures – but what is the weight of an ODI series with little immediate import compared to an Asian Games gold medal?

Cricket authorities have worked tirelessly in ensuring the inclusion of the sport in multi-discipline events like the Asian Games and the Olympic Games. The International Cricket Council’s avowed goal is to take the discipline to as many countries as possible. Having identified the 20-over format as the vehicle to drive that ambition, it has handed over memberships to a host of nations – the official T20I team rankings includes a staggering 102 countries – and conferred international status on matches involving even, say, Lesotho and Costa Rica, ranked 89th and joint-94th respectively.

Perfect sense

It therefore makes perfect sense to honour their presence in these big bashes by sending out the strongest team possible under the circumstances. Perhaps Shreyas might not say so publicly, but one is pretty certain that he would cherish an Asian Games gold medal more than being on the right side of a 2-1 scoreline against West Indies in a largely meaningless ODI series which, even with the World Cup a year away, was largely bereft of context. Batathons on flat tracks that took away the joy of a contest might have appealed to the spectators but it did little to edify the sport. But then, we digress.

Weight of favouritism

Shreyas and stand-in head coach V.V.S. Laxman were aware of the weight of favouritism imposed on the side. They also had the belief and the confidence that, never mind the relative strengths of their opponents, they would be unstoppable if they played at even 90% of their potential. Even at full strength, which Afghanistan were last month when they quixotically hosted India at Delhi’s Arun Jaitley Stadium, the rest of the field would have been hard pressed to stretch India. Given that Shreyas had all the big guns at his disposal, from Abhishek Sharma and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi to Sanju Samson and Kishan, and Bumrah and Axar, India had to play extraordinarily poorly and their opponents, whoever they might have been, had to play out of their skins to orchestrate an upset.

Banana skin

As their one-off T20I against Japan showcased last month, an abridged T20 game can be a banana skin. On a pitch that served as a horrible advertisement for a 5-overs-a-side affair, India huffed and puffed to a two-run victory. More than any other format, the 20-over slugfest narrows the gap between teams, and when that is reduced by 75%, the chances of a more level playing field increase exponentially.

Most pitches at the Asian Games weren’t up to scratch, favouring the bowling sides to a massive degree – how the Indian and West Indian 50-over exponents would have loved that – even though the final was played on a pretty good surface that produced more 400 runs. India’s overwhelming superiority was never more evident than in the semifinal against Sri Lanka when Kishan’s unbeaten 80 was nearly twice as much as what the entire opposition managed. India played with flair and imagination, and without the burden of expectations and fear. A lot of credit for that should go to Laxman, as good a man-manager as any the country has been blessed with but temporarily – one hopes – lost to the coaching spectrum because of personal reasons.

Laxman has now shepherded India to successive Asian Games gold medals, even though he might not individually have anything to show for it. Were he the sort, he would clamber on to the tallest rooftop and tom-tom about his contributions. But he didn’t do that when he was winning matches and shaping miracles for the country, so he is not going to embark on that journey now. In India, some people are more equal than others and that will never change, which is why Laxman’s contributions will inevitably fly under the radar though as a batter, few have influenced the outcomes of Test matches more than the stylist from Hyderabad.

One of the prime tenets of Laxman’s coaching philosophy is constancy and stability. Among the others is communication. During his playing career, Laxman suffered on both counts, so he is in a far better position to appreciate the significance of role clarity, of being made to feel wanted, and of being kept in the loop about developments so that no one is operating in a vacuum. Many of the players who travelled with him to Zimbabwe in July, immediately after the misadventures in Ireland and England, and to the Asian Games, have spoken in private of the positive influence of the 51-year-old and how his openness, approachability and his sense of balance and fairness have impacted them. Laxman is a firm believer in processes, but also in not rigidly sticking to them or making decisions on the fly, on a whim and a fancy. While no coach can ever be accused of winning or losing matches, it is undeniable that the environment they fashion within the changing room plays a massive part in how the wards approach the game. On that count, Laxman has few equals.

For Shreyas, this was a much-needed victory. Brought back to the T20I fold after two and a half years and installed as the captain with India deciding to move on from Suryakumar Yadav – World Cup-winning skipper but short on runs – he must have felt the heat after surrendering 0-2 to Ireland and 0-4 to England in his first two assignments. The clean sweep against Afghanistan last month must have lifted his morale, but this campaign, away from probing eyes, would have facilitated his reintegration to progress further. The fact that he had most of his first-choice personnel around would have aided the process of refamiliarisation and put him in a good headspace, imperative because he is the designated ODI vice-captain and will be expected to play a big part with the bat at No. 4 in the lead-up to and during the World Cup.

Shreyas knows he has a great bunch to work with. He will have taken particular joy in the sustained good form of Kishan, for whom 2026 has heralded a breathtaking second coming, and the continued development as a batter, an individual and leader of Tilak Varma, his T20I deputy. Like he had in the Asia Cup final in Dubai in September last year when he steered India past Pakistan in a tense run-chase, the left-hander from Hyderabad upped his game against the old foe in the title clash on Saturday, his unbeaten 51, off just 22 deliveries, pushing the total past 200 and out of reach of a spirited Pakistan well served by the exciting Hasan Nawaz.

Tilak was batting at No. 6, somewhat below his normal and preferred position because India stacked up their batting even if it meant they were a bowler light. He walked in with just 41 deliveries left in the innings and made a spectacular impact, showing how far he has come in international cricket. Just 23 months back, in South Africa towards the end of 2024, he sought to occupy the No. 3 position that Suryakumar had made his own. When the skipper acquiesced, Tilak expressed his thanks with two hundreds in three nights, in Centurion and adjacent Johannesburg respectively. Now, he doesn’t need the No. 3 position, which puts him in a position to play more balls than anyone else but the two openers, to unfurl his repertoire and shape the destination of 20-over games, which is exactly the kind of graph one would expect of a 23-year-old who is desperate to be a permanent for the country across formats.

Already, the Asian Games adventure is a thing of the past, what with the five-match T20I series against West Indies due to begin in Lucknow on Tuesday. A vast chunk of those who travelled to Japan will line up in the administrative and legislative capital of Uttar Pradesh, as a new challenge beckons. West Indies have shown in the ODIs that they are no pushovers and India will have their work cut out. And while they know that it doesn’t guarantee victory, Shreyas and his boys will still bask in the afterglow of an Asian Games gold medal. Whyever not?

Prasidh Krishna celebrates with teammates after taking a wicket of Sri Lanka’s Niroshan Dickwella on day five of the first Test cricket match between India and Sri Lanka, in Galle, Sri Lanka, on August 19, 2026
| Photo Credit: PTI

File picture of Virat Kohli in action.
| Photo Credit: Moorthy RV

India’s Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, centre, walks off the field with teammates after the 4th T20 match against England.
| Photo Credit: Action Images via Reuters

Two series, six matches. Two half-centuries, one Player of the Match award, one Player of the Series honour. That’s Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s international CV thus far after an exhilarating, whirlwind July when he took his first, firm steps towards moving from boy wonder to a man for all seasons.

The 15-year-old’s inclusion in the Indian T20I squads for the twin tours of Ireland and England was welcomed with more than a frisson of excitement and expectation. There ought to have been not a semblance of discussion on whether he should feature in the squad if not for his tender age, because especially in IPL 2026, he had showcased his exceptional talent with one bruising masterpiece after another. A season-high tally of 776 runs and the Orange Cap in his first full season should have, as it thankfully eventually did, been an automatic rite of passage to the national side. If there were any misgivings at all, it was because he was 15, not 18 or 19.

Sooryavanshi had battered the best bowlers in the world in the IPL, smashing them to smithereens and often instilling dread and fear as they ran in to deliver the little white orb because even the Cummins’ and the Hazlewoods, the Bumrahs and the Rabadas, knew that the margin for error was miniscule. His consistency reiterated that he was more than just a one-trick pony. He blazed to 15-ball half-centuries for fun, the sixes flowed as if there was an invisible, illegal spring in his bat (something Sanath Jayasuriya was hilariously accused of after his pyrotechnics in the 1996 World Cup) and for the first time in many years (since maybe 1988?), India was transfixed by the breathtaking audacity of a teen phenom.

Not just India, of course. Such is the reach, magnetic pull and popularity of the world’s most celebrated 20-over league that global audiences were treated to the Sooryavanshi magic. To see David take down Goliath is one of the time-tested endearing subtexts to any sporting contest. Tens of thousands willed the young lad to succeed not just for the novelty value but the sheer entertainment he provided, the joy he brought with uninhibited freedom which is often professed in the dressing room but hard to put into practice ball after ball, innings after innings.

Shreyas Iyer and Gautam Gambhir, the new leadership group of the T20I setup, chose to make the restless teenager wait for his baptism. Contrary to expectations that he would be blooded against the Irish in a series India were expected to dominate, Sooryavanshi watched from the sidelines as his colleagues crashed and burned to an unprecedented, seismic 0-2 defeat, their first losses to the Irish in international cricket. He was eventually handed his India cap for the second of five T20Is against Harry Brook’s England, in Manchester on July 4. His maiden outing fetched only 14 runs (off 10 balls), but there were two sixes thrown in, including one off Rajasthan Royals teammate Jofra Archer, a brief first appearance that suggested that he wasn’t out of place in the bustling cauldron of country vs country battle.

Sooryavanshi’s next two outings in England weren’t productive either – 13 off 5 balls in Nottingham, and 15 off 10 in Bristol — after which he was benched for the final game at Rose Bowl in Southampton. He must have watched with mounting frustration as, on an absolute belter, the hosts racked up 257 for three and India replied with a competitive but eventually woefully inadequate 201 for eight. There is no gainsaying how Sooryavanshi would have acquitted himself; whispers were starting to surface that the short ball into the body was a kryptonite of sorts, but there is little sustained evidence to support that theory. England brought the young lad 42 runs off 25 deliveries with one four and five sixes, hardly sensational but definitely not enough to write him off.

In Zimbabwe in the week gone by, however, the international game was privileged to witness the phenomenon reprise his IPL magic. Sooryavanshi has quite a tryst with the Harare Sports Club, where Shreyas’ bunch locked horns with the host nation in a three-match showdown. India had gone through seven winless games in Ireland and England, losing six with one game (the opening fixture against England) abandoned halfway through, and Shreyas desperately needed a victory against his name after a horror start to his T20I captaincy stint.

Happy hunting ground

He needn’t have worried too much, as it turned out. After all, he had the ace in his pack, a young man who dug into his memory bank, dredged up happy thoughts of his time at the Harare Sports Club, and brutalised a solid Zimbabwe pace attack spearheaded by the towering Blessing Muzarabani and the left-armer, Richard Ngarava.

Muzarabani, more than his left-handed counterpart, had played a big part in Zimbabwe making it to the Super 8 of the T20 World Cup earlier this year at the expense of fancied former champions Australia. Standing six feet eight inches (203 cms) in his socks, he used his height to great advantage, fusing bounce with movement to resemble a one-man wrecking ball. Muzarabani finished as the joint second-highest wicket-taker of the tournament; his 13 scalps (only one behind Jasprit Bumrah and Varun Chakaravarthy) came in only six bowls, his strike rate of 11 balls per wicket bettered among the top-five wicket-takers only by Shadley van Schalkwyk (6.84) of the United States, who also ended up with 13 wickets. He was expected to give India’s batters, who had a miserable run in England, a torrid time, but Sooryavanshi had other plans.

In February, at the same venue, Sooryavanshi had made the Under-19 World Cup final against England a ridiculously one-sided affair well before the halfway stage of the contest. After Ayush Mhatre chose to bat, the left-handed opener went on the rampage, tearing into the shell-shocked English boys with utter disdain.

Boundaries cascaded off his bat with remarkable regularity; he reached his 50 off 32 deliveries, took only 23 more to bring up his century, and went from 100 to 150 in a mere 16 balls. By the time he was dismissed, gloving a slog-sweep to the wicketkeeper, he had hurtled to 175, from just 80 deliveries, with 15 power-packed fours and an equal number of towering sixes. He had accounted for 69.72% of the runs India had scored (251) till he was at the crease. Sooryavanshi’s blitzkrieg ended off the third delivery of the 26th over, just past the halfway stage of the Indian innings. Who knows what he would have finished with had he batted for even a half-hour more.

In Sooryavanshi’s corner on that occasion was Hrishikesh Kanitkar as the head coach, with former India left-arm spinner Sunil Joshi too travelling as the bowling/spin coach. And, of course, there was V.V.S. Laxman , the wonderfully affable and positive-talking Hyderabadi who has quietly elevated the profile of the Centre of Excellence (previously the National Cricket Academy) without getting either his due or craving for approbation and plaudits, who travelled for the second half of the Under-19 World Cup as the team’s mentor, among other things.

While Kanitkar wasn’t in Harare this last week, both Laxman and Joshi were. With Gambhir and his support staff taking a break ahead of the Test tour of Sri Lanka beginning in a little over a week’s time, Laxman stepped in as the interim head coach, like he has done quite a few times in the past, with Joshi for support. Perhaps, the familiarity with the ground, previous dizzying success at the venue and a sense of ease around the coaching staff that has overseen his progress over the last year and a bit helped calm Sooryavanshi down. He was clearly in his elements, reprising the destructive avatar that made him such a compelling attraction during the IPL.

India’s youngest international cricketer, male or female, became the youngest half-centurion in all T20Is when he lashed an even 50 in the first encounter on Thursday, July 23. The half-century came off only 18 deliveries, though he saw off the Muzarabani threat with commonsense rather than bravado. India were chasing a modest target of 126 and Sooryavanshi’s early blitz powered them to a commanding victory with 40 deliveries to spare, though the Player-of-the-Match award went to pacer Mayank Yadav for his spell of two for 18. After a whirlwind nine-ball 20 in Saturday’s game two, Sooryavanshi went into overdrive in the final, dead rubber on Sunday. In the clearest indication yet that he has a terrific cricket brain nestled in that young, still developing head, Sooryavanshi batted with tremendous maturity and intelligence on a worn surface where the bounce was uneven and where the ball didn’t exactly gush on to the bat.

No half-measures

Sooryavanshi picked the balls to attack with care and diligence, but when he went on the offensive, he didn’t hold back. There were no half-measures, his commitment to the stroke indisputably maximal. Abhishek Sharma fell cheaply again and the normally fluent Ishan Kishan struggled for timing, but Sooryavanshi seemed immune to the vagaries of the pitch.

His fifty appeared measured, yet it came off just 31 deliveries; as he raced into the 80s, visions of a maiden century loomed until he fell to a wonderful catch in the deep by Brad Evans. His final returns – 81 off 49, eight fours, four sixes. As India completed a comfortable 35-run victory to seal a 3-0 series sweep, there was only one candidate for both the match and the series honours. Welcome to the world of international cricket, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi. And what’s the fuss all about, right? Laxman’s personality doesn’t lend itself to hyperbole, so when he says something, you know that that’s precisely what he means. He was glowing in his praise of the young lad, extolling his maturity and cricket smarts not just during the last week but over the last six months, from the Under-19 World Cup onwards.

“He’s got a long career ahead, and he has the attitude and mindset to improve every day,” the magician with wrists of steel proclaimed. “I’m sure he will progress and break all the records at the international level. He’s got all the potential and ability to do that.”

Over to you now, young man, to prove the great man right.

Since the start of the IPL, runs have been flowing from B. Sai Sudharsan’s bat. The Gujarat Titans opener had a great season, finishing as the third-highest run-getter (722 runs). He then seamlessly switched into the longer format, scoring 81 in the Test against Afghanistan before following it up with twin centuries for India-A in the two four-day games in Sri Lanka.

In this chat with The Hindu, the 24-year-old Tamil Nadu batter opens up about his “best IPL season” as well as his experience playing Test cricket over the last year. Excerpts:

How do you see this purple patch?

I am feeling really grateful for whatever I have done in the IPL. The way it started, the way it unfolded, the way it ended — it was very interesting.

I have always had good starts in every IPL. So this one was even more interesting because I didn’t score much in the first four to five games. Mentally, I won’t say it was challenging but more interesting, as belief, trust, and everything increased day by day rather than becoming doubtful. It was a very good IPL, and it was my best year.

Does it make it more special that you recovered from a tough start?

Yes, for sure, because when you are scoring, it is easy. When you keep playing, it is easier to believe and to be in a confident frame of mind. But when you don’t score, it’s even more important to feel the same way.

So, in that way, it was very interesting, and I learnt a lot in this IPL. When it is not converted into evidence, are you still trusting the process and your abilities? Mentally, when you enter the game, are you still thinking about not scoring in the previous match, or are you entering in an expressive frame of mind to make an impact for the team? So I think, in those ways, I learnt a lot — to not take the past into the game.

Was there a specific game that unlocked something for you?

Yes. I got a hundred against RCB. That was the game which actually changed quite a lot of things. We lost that match, yes, but that game gave us momentum. From there, the team also did well. The team faced a challenge: we were still doing well, but something was not going right. Then we won in Chennai, and from there, everybody’s game started going the way we wanted.

You came into the IPL after an injury lay-off due to a rib fracture. How difficult was the recovery?

Definitely, it was not easy because breathing was difficult. But sometimes, when you get a break, you have time to think about the game. You have time to really introspect about what you want to do. So I saw it as a blessing in disguise. At that time, I wanted to use it wisely and productively, so that I would still bat a lot mentally. I couldn’t do it physically, of course, but mentally I batted a lot and didn’t feel that I was away from the sport.

What did you specifically work on during those three to four months?

It’s more about the feel. The feeling of batting. All the small things I wanted to improve, all the small additions I wanted to make — I just did them in my head. I tried to visualise it more and sustain that feeling.

There’s a lot of talk around strike-rates. However, you and your opening partner, Shubman Gill, took a different approach, trying to bat long. How do you see it in the bigger picture when the demands of T20 cricket keep changing? Do you feel tempted to play at a higher tempo?

We’re not looking at it as ‘We have to play at this strike-rate to win’. We’re looking at it from a broader perspective — what is required for the game, rather than individual statistical points. We’re not looking at it as a stats-oriented approach. Yes, stats are very important for improving and getting better. But we’re not looking to predetermine how we’ll play. If we’re chasing 240, we have to play at a 200 strike-rate anyway. It’s situational, rather than saying we can only do well if we play at a particular strike-rate. As a team, as you rightly said, we’re trying to give ourselves the best chance of winning.

At the same time, don’t you feel it could affect your personal career?

It’s actually a great question because it’s actually a challenge as well. But I feel winning is the ultimate recipe, or the ultimate key, to whatever you want to do. You don’t have to think personally. For a team, winning is the ultimate recipe. If you make your team win, you will eventually get the call-up and recognition. Everything else is secondary. It is a by-product. The ultimate goal is to have the team’s intent to win. The way I’m looking at it is: Am I giving myself the best possible chance to contribute? I feel that if we put a constraint like that in place, we are holding ourselves back.

You have now scored more than 700 runs for the second consecutive season. How do you ensure you keep improving to stay ahead in a format that keeps changing?

Even during the tournament, the game is evolving. This year, there were two spectrums of games. Either they were very low-scoring or very high-scoring. At the start of the tournament, there were three or four situations in which it was still possible to hit the ball correctly. I learnt certain things from that. I got out to balls that weren’t really wicket-taking deliveries. They were short, into the body, down the side of the leg. So I felt there was still space for the right movements to happen, and then you score runs. I worked more on that. Similarly, there were many examples from last year and this year. At certain times, I wasn’t finishing games, so I wanted to finish games. I feel I’m aware of those things. I keep building on them so the batting works automatically.

How do you handle not being in India’s T20 plans despite two very good IPL seasons?

There is nothing to handle. No disappointment, no expectation. We have a job in our hands. As simple as that. I know it may sound contradictory to many people. Yes, everybody wants to play for the country, and I want it even more. But what’s important is understanding what is within our control and what we should be hungry for. In the IPL, the important job is to put the team where we want it to be and win the tournament.

That’s the biggest priority. Selection comes as a by-product. There are still many things I can improve. I can work on those, come back to the IPL, and make an even bigger impact. Those are the things I have in my control, and I will back myself to do that every year.

Your assessment of your first year as a Test cricketer?

It is interesting. Even a small weakness or flaw will be challenged. As a batter, you have to keep improving and evolving from all those small things. It changes every single day and every single session. To be versatile enough to understand that and be smart is very important. But the satisfaction you get from scoring runs in Tests is unparalleled. You toil for five days. The hard work on the fourth or fifth day, when you get those runs or that win, is just very satisfying.

What have been the biggest learnings from the first year?

We have to keep evolving as batters, and there isn’t much time to do so. You have to be smart enough to pick things up and evolve. I feel it is all about owning that place. I could have owned it a bit more. I could have been a bit freer. The more ownership I take, and the more courage I have to go out there and express myself, the more I feel I’ll be able to bring out the best version of myself. That’s probably the biggest learning for me.

A little bit of that happened during the Afghanistan series. It helped me express myself more rather than trying to be right.

But hats off to my team: because of the support staff, the communication, and the way they supported and backed me — I was very happy with that.

Even in the Kolkata Test (vs. South Africa), which I didn’t play, I was very comfortable because the communication was very clear. We were looking at an extra spinner to give us the best chance. The communication was very clear, and as a player, you need that freedom.

During the West Indies series, GG (Gautam Gambhir) sir was very communicative. He backed me really well. In the Delhi Test (vs. West Indies), I was actually happy because I understood my batting better. I needed that clarity at that time, so it was very helpful to me.

I feel my batting has also become a little more fine-tuned. Decision-making, footwork, and movement in the crease—these experiences have helped me further fine-tune my game.

After the South Africa tour, I had quite a lot of time to prepare, understand those things and fine-tune them.

You have been dismissed twice in the 80s. Do you regret not converting those starts?

I’d agree that it was a little disappointing not to convert them. But at the same time, I was really happy with the level of control I had and the intensity of my play. The feeling while batting was really good, and the control was good. So I’m looking forward to building on that. The big score will come when it’s supposed to come.

There has been some criticism surrounding your First Class average. Are you aware of that, and how do you handle it?

Honestly, I’m not even aware of my own statistics. I don’t know how many matches I’ve played, how many hundreds I’ve scored or what my average is. Even in the IPL, I don’t know how many games I’ve played or how many runs I’ve scored. The reason is simple — I don’t want to judge myself based on statistics. I believe more in the experience than the numbers.

One game might be on a raging turner. Another game could be on a seaming wicket. Every match presents a different challenge. So it’s very difficult for me to look at my average and tell myself, ‘I’m batting well because my average is good’ or, ‘I’m batting badly because my average isn’t good enough’. For me, it’s about being fully present in that particular situation and doing the best I possibly can.

How was your experience of playing those two four-day games in Sri Lanka?

It was a really valuable experience and a great opportunity for us to understand the conditions. There was more breeze, a little more bounce and a little more turn than what we’re generally used to. Even the bowling culture there is different.

The bowlers are extremely consistent and disciplined rather than relying on something extraordinary. As a batter, getting more game time in Test cricket is always the best opportunity to learn.

Luckily, we played at Galle, so we got an opportunity to understand how the wickets behaved and how they generally prepared the surfaces. Overall, it was a really good experience and a great opportunity for us to understand the conditions.

Can you elaborate on the impact of the breeze?

The strong breeze changes everything. Because of the wind, the ball’s line changes quite a lot. Experiencing that was really valuable. It’s actually very similar to England. In England, the fast bowlers get late movement. Here, because of the breeze, the spinners get late drift. So you can’t commit too early, and you can’t judge the length too early. You have to keep judging the ball as late as possible because it keeps changing its line.

What’s the next month looking like for you?

The next month will be a proper off-season with some long practice sessions. Overall, it’s a great window to work hard and build towards the coming season. There are two main areas. The first is from a physical perspective. I want to become stronger, leaner, and fitter, especially in my movement and recovery, so that I can recover better and faster.

The second is my batting. I want to continue fine-tuning my game against spin. We have a series against Sri Lanka, where the conditions are quite similar, and then a couple of Tests in New Zealand, which will obviously present a different challenge. So my focus is on improving my batting against spin, better understanding my footwork, and continuing to develop my game.

Rohit Sharma plays a shot during the 2nd ODI against England, at Sophia Gardens stadium in Cardiff
| Photo Credit: ANI

Leading into the second ODI between India and England here in Cardiff, history at the Sophia Gardens — both recent and distant — had favoured the chasing team. Eight of the previous 12 ODIs, including four of the last four, were won by sides batting second.

For a brief while on Thursday (July 16, 2026), India threatened to upend it as Jasprit Bumrah and Prasidh Krishna dismissed openers Ben Duckett and Jacob Bethell with just eight runs on the board in a 234-run pursuit.

But things soon regressed to the mean as Joe Root scored an unbeaten 99 (133b, 9×4) to carry England to a four-wicket, series-levelling success.

Root was on 98 when the hosts still needed 19 runs. But Gus Atkinson (23 n.o., 16b, 3×4, 1×6) scored a lion’s share of those to usher the win with nearly six overs to spare. The decider will be played at Lord’s in London this Sunday.

When Duckett edged the first ball to wicket-keeper Ishan Kishan – who replaced an ill K.L. Rahul in the XI – and Bethell was also caught behind after being pinned on the backfoot by Prasidh, the large diaspora audience that had assembled smelt a close contest.

When skipper Harry Brook, who was all action during his 16-ball stay for 16 runs, perished trying one scoop too many, those hopes heightened.

But Root, after surviving a few testing overs early on, blunted the Indian attack with a perfect illustration of how to grind out a result.

If a 41-run fourth-wicket partnership with Sam Curran (26, 31b, 4×4) stabilised proceedings, the 72-run association with Will Jacks (30, 44b, 2×4) for the sixth wicket brought England to the doorstep of victory.

A rush of blood cost Jacks as he slapped a short-of-length delivery from Gurnoor Brar to cover. Shubman Gill brought Bumrah for one last roll of the dice, but it was not to be.

English pacers stymie Indian batters

Earlier, after being asked to bat first, the Indian top-three made more than half the runs and there was precious little from the rest except Shreyas Iyer, who top-scored with 66 (71b, 5×4, 2×4).

Four of the top-six – Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Kishan and Washington Sundar – fell playing cross-batted strokes and across the line.

The home side’s decision to bring in speedsters Saqib Mahmood and Atkinson for Josh Tongue and Liam Dawson – who made 68 in Birmingham and bowled two overs of left-arm spin – proved right as nine of the ten wickets were picked up by the pacers, including five by Atkinson and Mahmood combined.

Rohit made an unconvincing 26 (47b, 1×4, 1×6), during which he pulled Atkinson for a trademark six but was also dropped at deep backward square-leg on five. Gill (31, 30b, 6×4) played a few delectable leg-glances and flicks but drilled Atkinson straight to Ben Duckett at cover.

Virat Kohli was assured during his 65-run knock (66b, 8×4), and his half-century from 50 balls was completed with a fierce straight drive off Curran. An attempted heave over mid-wicket, however, ended up with the third-man fielder.

In the 33rd over, a single Shreyas took in the cover area injured a seagull. But it was India which came out feathered and tarred, losing its lower middle-order in a heap.

Shreyas, though, played admirably, and seemed most ease even against short-pitched bowling, his perceived weakness. His half-century came courtesy a neat six over fine-leg off Jofra Archer.

However, when he was the ninth man out, there were more than six overs remaining. Prasidh departed three balls later to bring the curtains down.

Bumrah, remained unbeaten on an unbeaten thrill-a-minute 20 (13b, 3×4, 1×6). In the end, it was pure entertainment and nothing more.

Published – July 17, 2026 02:07 am IST