Rain had the final say in the Trent Bridge Test match between England and India as the entire fifth day’s play was abandoned. The match was interestingly poised, with India requiring 157 runs to win with nine wickets in hand, but persistent rain from the early hours of Sunday ensured that not a single ball was possible on the final day.
As a result, both teams got four points from their first match in the World Test Championship 2021-23.
There were multiple inspections by the umpires throughout the day but the pitch was not ready for cricket at any point. Even if rain halted for a while, as soon as the ground staff tried to clear up the heavily covered pitch, it made a return. The game was called off at 3.50 PM GMT.
There are quite a few talking points from this match. For England, they will still have concern for their top order. Haseeb Hameed has a realistic possibility to make a comeback in the second Test, at Lord’s. Rory Burns has scored just one hundred and three fifties in his last 11 Tests, since the start of 2020, and it needs to be seen how long the selectors keep trusting him.
They will be happy with the form of James Anderson and Ollie Robinson, but may reconsider going with with only four fast bowlers. It almost backfired here, when Stuart Broad had a rare off day.
India will be pleased with Jasprit Bumrah’s return to form. Bumrah did not get a wicket in the WTC final, but his nine wickets at Trent Bridge were an outcome of long, probing spells at genuine pace. He is India’s biggest weapon if they want to win this series.
They will also be happy with the performance of K.L. Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja. Shardul Thakur also performed well in his fourth pacer’s role, and should hold on to his spot unless Indians are presented with a surface dry enough to consider R. Ashwin.
With Mayank Agarwal back to full fitness and Prithvi Shaw and Suryakumar Yadav returning, India will have more options before the second Test match. But as of now, this eleven looks settled.
Brief scores: England 183 (Joe Root 64; Jasprit Bumrah 4-46) and 303 (Joe Root 109; Jasprit Bumrah 5-64) drew with India 278 (K.L. Rahul 84; Ollie Robinson 5-85, James Anderson 4-54) and 52/1 (K.L. Rahul 26; Stuart Broad 1-18). Player of the Match: Joe Root.