Date: August 10th, 2011.
Location: Edgbaston, Birmingham.
Series Status: India leads 1-0 (Lord's Won, Trent Bridge Drawn).
The mood in the Indian camp was buoyant, bordering on electric. They had conquered Lord's in a historic chase and gritted out a draw at Trent Bridge thanks to the defensive masterclass of Siddanth Deva.
But the biggest cheer in the net session wasn't for a wicket or a shot. It was for the arrival of a man walking with a slight limp but a wide, infectious grin.
Virender Sehwag.
The Nawab of Najafgarh had recovered from his shoulder surgery. He was back. The sheer presence of Sehwag changed the dynamic of the opposition. English bowlers slept less soundly when Viru was in the city.
"Finally," MS Dhoni said, throwing a new Duke ball to Sehwag in the nets. "We missed the noise."
Sehwag laughed, taking his stance with that trademark lack of footwork. "I missed the English pies. Let's hit some."
Siddanth Deva watched from the bowling run-up. Having Sehwag back meant the pressure on him to score quick runs at the top was alleviated.
Dhoni clarified the role in the team huddle. "Viru opens with Mukhund. Sid, you drop to Number 6. We need stability in the middle, and your bowling workload is high. Be the Kallis."
Deva nodded. It made sense. But he would miss the new ball.
Toss: England won and elected to bat.
Pitch: Flat. A road. A batsman's paradise, but with overcast skies.
Day 1: The Cook Show and The Sledge
If Lord's was Deva's canvas, Edgbaston belonged to Alastair Cook.
The English opener didn't just bat; he occupied the crease like a tenant who refused to be evicted. He batted. And batted. And batted.
The Indian bowlers toiled. Ishant Sharma banged it in short. Sreesanth tried to swing it. Siddanth Deva, operating as the third seamer, bowled tight lines, his [Perfect Rhythm] keeping his speed up even in the 80th over.
Over 45: Deva to Cook
Deva walked back to his mark. He was tired. Cook was on 120. The score was a demoralizing 280/1.
Matt Prior, who had been promoted up the order due to an injury to Trott, was at the non-striker's end. He grinned at Deva.
"He's going to bat till Christmas, mate," Prior chirped. "You might as well call your mum and tell her you'll be late for dinner. Does she send tiffin to Birmingham?"
Deva wiped sweat from his brow. He walked past Cook.
"You know, Alastair, there are other shots besides the cut and the nudge. Try a drive. The crowd is falling asleep. I saw a guy in Row Z reading a newspaper."
Cook looked up, his expression deadpan. "The scoreboard is moving, isn't it? And you're still bowling."
Deva gritted his teeth. He ran in.
Ball 45.4: Deva bowled a searing yorker. 148 kmph.
Cook dug it out. It was like bowling to a wall.
Deva did pick up wickets. He got Andrew Strauss (bowled) early in the day and trapped Kevin Pietersen LBW with a cutter in the final session.
Deva Figures Day 1: 22-4-78-2.
Day 2: The Mountain
Cook continued. He scored a monumental 294. England batted for nearly two days, declaring on 710/7.
It was a mountain. A scoreboard pressure that could crush diamonds.
Day 3:
India walked out to bat. The deficit was 710. The goal was simple: Bat for three days to save the match.
Virender Sehwag took strike. Stuart Broad had the ball.
Ball 0.1: Sehwag tried to slash a wide one. First ball.
Edge.
Keeper.
WICKET (Sehwag 0).
The "King" had returned with a King Pair (Golden Duck). The silence in the Indian dressing room was deafening.
Abhinav Mukhund followed soon after. Rahul Dravid was run out in a mix-up with Tendulkar.
India was 90/4.
Siddanth Deva walked out at No. 6. He joined Sachin Tendulkar.
James Anderson was swinging it around corners. The cloud cover was heavy.
Over 28: Anderson to Deva
28.1: Outswinger. Beaten.
Anderson walked down the pitch, getting right in Deva's face.
"No IPL flat tracks here, superstar. This is real cricket. The Duke ball doesn't forgive sloggers."
Deva tapped the pitch, marking his guard aggressively. "I scored two hundreds at Lord's, Jimmy. Remind me, how many do you have?"
Anderson scowled, spitting on the turf. "Watch your toes, kid."
28.2: Anderson bowled a fast inswinging yorker.
Deva saw it early. He played with soft hands, jamming the bat down. The ball rolled to mid-on.
Deva smiled at Anderson. "Missed."
Deva and Sachin batted for five hours.
Deva scored a gritty 85, curbing his instincts, leaving well, taking blows on the body. Sachin scored 91, falling agonizingly short of the 100th hundred again (LBW to Swann).
India All Out: 224.
Follow-On Enforced.
Day 4 & 5: The Great Escape
India followed on, trailing by 486 runs.
Defeat seemed inevitable.
But then, the heavens opened.
Rain washed out the entire fourth day. A blessing from the gods.
Day 5 was a dull, grey affair. The pitch had slowed down.
Sehwag smashed a quick 50 before getting out.
Mukhund and Dravid blocked everything.
Dhoni and Deva batted out the final session against a tired English attack.
Match Drawn.
Series: India leads 1-0.
One match to go. The Oval.
---
Date: August 18th, 2011.
Location: The Oval, London.
Context: India needs a draw or win to take the series. England needs a win to level the series 1-1.
The pitch at The Oval was green. Greener than Trent Bridge. The overhead conditions were gloomy. It was a bowler's dream and a batter's nightmare.
The Toss:
Dhoni flipped. Strauss called correctly.
"We'll have a bowl," Strauss said, eyeing the clouds. "Conditions are perfect for Jimmy."
Day 1:
James Anderson and Stuart Broad bowled a spell from hell.
Sehwag: Edged to slip (0).
Mukhund: Fended to gully (10).
Dravid: The only man standing. The Wall was impregnable. He carried his bat through the carnage.
But the others fell like dominoes.
Laxman (0). Raina (2).
India: 60/5.
Siddanth Deva walked out. The crisis man.
He looked at Dravid. Dravid looked tired. He had carried the team all summer.
"Counter-attack, Jammy bhai?" Deva asked.
"No other way," Dravid said grimly. "If we block, we die. The ball has our name on it."
Deva activated [AB de Villiers Template]. He decided that if he was going to go down, he would go down swinging.
Over 25: Stuart Broad to Deva
Broad ran in, tail up.
Deva charged. He hit Broad over extra cover for SIX.
Next ball. Short. Deva hooked. FOUR.
Next ball. Width. Upper cut. SIX.
The crowd gasped. It was audacious. It was Test cricket played at T20 speed.
Deva raced to 40 off 25 balls.
But cricket is a game of one ball.
Graeme Swann came on. First ball. Drift and turn.
Deva tried to drive. The ball gripped.
Caught and Bowled.
WICKET (Deva 40).
India bundled out for 300, thanks to Dravid carrying his bat yet again for 146*. (The man was superhuman).
Day 2 & 3: The English Assault
England batted. And they batted aggressively.
Ian Bell was in the form of his life. He stroked a majestic 235.
Kevin Pietersen scored 175.
The Indian bowlers were flat. Zaheer was missed terribly. Ishant tried, but he was erratic. Sreesanth was expensive.
Deva bowled his heart out. He bowled 30 overs in the innings.
He tried cutters. He tried bouncers. He tried the wobble seam.
Over 65: Deva to Cook
Deva came round the wicket. He angled it in.
Cook played across the line. LBW.
WICKET (Cook 34).
Over 90: Deva to Strauss
Deva got one to reverse swing.
Strauss drove. Inside edge. Clattered the stumps.
WICKET (Strauss 40).
He finished with 2/88. A respectable effort in a mauling.
As Deva walked back to his mark, sweating, Bell smiled. "Tired, mate? 150 kmph dropping to 130? The battery is running low. Maybe ask Dhoni for a break."
Deva glared. "Just wait for the second innings, Bell. I'll knock your off stump out."
England declared on 591/6.
Lead: 291 runs.
---
India batting. Second Innings.
Trailing by 291.
Objective: Bat for 2 days to save the series. A draw wins the series for India.
Sehwag failed again. (The King was rusty).
Dravid finally fell early. (Even walls crack).
India was 110/4.
Virat Kohli and Siddanth Deva were at the crease. The two young guns. The future of Indian cricket.
Anderson was bowling to Kohli.
Over 45: Anderson to Kohli
Anderson bowled a beauty that beat the outside edge.
He walked down the pitch. He got right in Kohli's face.
"You don't belong here, Virat," Anderson sneered. "Go back to the U-19s. You can't play swing. You're a flat-track bully."
Kohli snapped. He walked towards Anderson, chest out.
"You chirp too much for a guy who hides behind the clouds!" Kohli shouted, pointing his bat. "Bowl the ball, Jimmy! Stop talking! You're nothing without the Duke ball!"
The umpire intervened. Deva walked up to Kohli.
"Cool it, Cheeku," Deva said, pushing Kohli back. "He wants you angry. He wants you to flash."
"I'll flash his face," Kohli muttered, eyes blazing. "I'm going to hit him out of London."
Next ball. Anderson bowled wide. A sucker ball.
Kohli flashed. Hard.
Edged.
Caught at second slip by Swann.
WICKET (Kohli 20).
Anderson celebrated by screaming in Kohli's face. Kohli had to be dragged away by Deva.
"He got you," Deva whispered to Kohli as he walked past. "He played you. Learn from this."
Kohli didn't reply. He just smashed his bat into the ground as he crossed the rope.
Part 5:
India was 150/5. Still trailing by 140.
MS Dhoni joined Deva.
"We need a partnership, Sid," Dhoni said, his face grim. "Just like the World Cup."
"World Cup was white ball, Skipper," Deva said, looking at the swinging red cherry. "This... this is different. This ball hates us."
They fought. Deva used his [Eidetic Memory] to predict Swann's variations. He used his [Perfect Rhythm] to ignore the screaming fatigue in his legs. He defended. He left. He nudged singles.
They batted for 30 overs.
They took the score to 250.
The deficit was down to 40.
Swann was getting frustrated. The ball was turning, but Deva was smothering the spin.
"Come on, Deva!" Swann yelled from the bowling crease. "Hit a six! Show us the IPL hero! Or are you scared of getting out? Scared of losing the series?"
Deva blocked the next ball dead. He picked it up and threw it back to Swann.
"I'm scared of losing the series, Graeme," Deva replied calmly. "That's why I'm blocking."
But the new ball was due.
Over 80.
Anderson and Broad took the new cherry. The lights were fading. The clouds gathered.
Over 81: Anderson to Dhoni
Inswinger. Low. Fast.
Dhoni tried to flick. He missed.
Plumb LBW.
WICKET (Dhoni 45).
The tail was exposed.
Amit Mishra came in.
Clean bowled by Broad first ball.
India: 260/7.
Lead: Still trailing by 31.
---
Date: August 22nd, 2011.
Session: Morning.
Deva was on 75*. He was the only hope.
He had Ishant Sharma at the other end.
Deva decided to farm the strike. He refused singles. He hit boundaries off the last ball of the over.
He reached his century with a pull shot off Broad.
100 runs. His third of the series.
The Indian balcony stood up. Even the English fans applauded. It was a lone warrior fighting an army.
But he couldn't protect the stumps at the other end forever.
Over 92: Swann to Ishant
Deva took a single on the 4th ball, trusting Ishant for two balls.
Ishant edged the 5th ball to slip.
WICKET.
Over 94: Swann to Sreesanth
Sreesanth tried to slog sweep. He missed by a mile.
Stumped by Prior.
WICKET.
India All Out: 283.
Trailing by 291.
England didn't need to bat again.
Result: England won by an innings and 8 runs.
Series Result:
1st Test (Lord's): India Won.
2nd Test (Trent Bridge): Draw.
3rd Test (Edgbaston): Draw.
4th Test (The Oval): England Won.
Series Drawn 1-1.
India retained the Pataudi Trophy (as current holders). But they had missed the chance to win a series in England.
---
The presentation ceremony was subdued. The English team celebrated the win, knowing they had saved face, but they knew they hadn't won the series.
Player of the Match: Ian Bell.
Nasser Hussain interviewed Deva on the podium.
"Sid, a drawn series. Mixed feelings?"
Deva is looking at the Indian fans in the stands.
"Yeah, Nasser. We wanted to win. We had the chance at Lord's, we took it. But England played better here. They used the conditions well. Losing by an innings hurts. But we keep the trophy. We showed fight."
"Your battle with Anderson and the sledging. It got heated."
Deva chuckled. "That's Test cricket. If you can't handle the heat, don't come to the kitchen. Jimmy is a great bowler. He taught me a lot this series. Mostly new swear words. But I respect him."
Nasser laughed. "Well played, young man."
As the team walked a lap of honor (for retaining the trophy), Kohli walked up to Deva. His eyes were red.
"I let him get to me," Kohli said, looking at Anderson celebrating. "I lost my cool. I cost us runs."
"You'll learn, Cheeku," Deva said, putting an arm around him. "Next time, don't talk. Just bat. We'll come back here in 2014. And we'll crush them."
"2014," Kohli nodded, a dark promise in his eyes.
Deva looked at the scoreboard one last time.
Series Drawn.
It wasn't a loss. But for a man addicted to winning, it felt like one.
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