Sunil Gavaskar’s anecdote about the time Sir Viv Richards sledged him on the field is quite familiar to most cricket fans. But, a quick refresher: The only time in his career that Gavaskar batted at No 4 in a Test – in 1983 against West Indies in Chennai – India lost two wickets in the first over bowled by Malcolm Marshall.
“I managed to avoid the hat-trick and at the end of the over Viv ran past me and said, ‘Hey, no matter, no matter, no matter what number you bat, man, the score is still zero’,” he says, the last part with a Caribbean accent.
England’s decision to move Joe Root to No 4 in ICC Champions Trophy has been somewhat similar. Before the tournament, England took the call to play keeper-bat Jamie Smith at No 3 – where Root had played 63% in his ODI career – to have more dynamism in the top order and to have Root anchor the middle order. But, no matter what, he has come out to bat well inside the first Powerplay. Phil Salt and Smith have both been dismissed at 5.2, 6.1, and 2.3 over-mark across the three matches.
It’s just one of the many things that didn’t work out for England as they went out of the tournament without a win, thrashed by South Africa in Karachi by 7 wickets with 125 balls remaining. Batting first, England – jolted by losing three early wickets including Ben Duckett’s – managed just 179. South Africa entered the quarterfinals with a run-chase that resembled a glorified net session for the most part.
Former England captain Mike Atherton’s first question to outgoing captain Jos Buttler in the post-match interview was point-blank. “Jos, dare I say, was that the kind of performance that reassures you (that) you’ve made the right decision?”, he asked. “Yeah, that was a really disappointing performance, wasn’t it? We’re so far short of the mark,” Buttler replied with a wry smile.
To his credit, Root at No 4 was still England’s best. Against South Africa too, he looked in good rhythm before a wobble-seam ball sneaked through his defence. But around him, there hasn’t been any significant contribution apart from Duckett’s 175 against Australia. As Buttler moves on from leadership, he hopes to take inspiration from Root. “Joe’s been a shining light and a great example for English cricket throughout. Obviously, we can see what he’s done since he relinquished the captaincy and taken his game to new levels, leading in a different way for the team. Hopefully, I can follow his lead, get back to my best form and start contributing to the team in the way I want to.”
England’s white-ball form has fallen off a cliff in recent times, with three straight disappointing ICC events. Brendon McCullum has taken over the head coach across all three formats recently, and his take before the match against South Africa was interesting. “They just are desperate to want to perform and it’s actually stymieing in the ability of us to be able to get the performance we want because they care too much.”
England deserve credit, under Eoin Morgan’s reign especially, for redefining how to play limited-overs cricket but the team has looked a shadow of that, and the defeat against South Africa was symptomatic of that.
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Buttler couldn’t quite put his finger on why there has been such a dropoff in form. “As a whole group, we’re not obviously getting the results and that takes away some confidence and stuff. Time for everyone to sort of go away, have a change of scene and work hard wherever cricket takes them next. There’s a huge opportunity for everyone inside and outside the dressing room to really put their hand up and say they want to be part of the rebuild of the white ball teams.”
For South Africa, there were a few concerns despite a convincing win. Illness in the camp meant captain Temba Bavuma and Tony de Zorzi were unavailable. Then stand-in captain Aiden Markram also left the field due to a hamstring issue, but later confirmed it was precautionary. But with two huge wins in their two completed matches, they have ticked a lot of boxes. None more satisfying than seeing Heinrich Klassen return to the side after an elbow concern and appear in supreme form.
The two fours he hit to get to his half-century were things of beauty. Jofra Archer, England’s best bowler on the night, bowled two perfectly good length deliveries in the fourth stump channel. Those are the deliveries that are meant to cause uncertainties to batters. But Klaasen stood tall, with the weight on his backfoot initially then transferring it forward through the punch, and just pushed them through extra cover for back-to-back boundaries. The raise of the bat from Klaasen for his fifty would have been met with relief in the South Africa dressing room.
Marco Jansen’s ability to strike early even on unhelpful conditions was another positive as he picked up three wickets in the first powerplay, with two of those thanks to adjusting his lengths to bowl short with no swing available. He then backed up with a stunning catch in the outfield too to dismiss Harry Brook, running 28m towards deep midwicket to grab a blinder.
