It seems fair to say Eden Gardens probably is not the place England would have chosen to nurse their bruises at the end of a rather brutal losing ODI series. Kolkata’s colosseum is the second largest cricket stadium in the world after the MCG, but it is probably the loudest, a grand, rambling, steeply tiered city centre ground with a notoriously boisterous edge to its matchday crowds.
Even the wall of fame halfway up the crumbly marbleised stairs to the press room has at its centre, next to Pankaj Roy’s blazer, a gilt-framed newspaper still of a shirtless Sourav Ganguly roaring on the Lord’s balcony. England lost to India that day. They lost their last match in Kolkata, the World Twenty20 final last year. Three ODIs on this ground have also been lost, the last as England folded chasing against Ravindra Jadeja and Ravi Ashwin four years ago.
Even Jason Roy’s press conference at the top of the Dr BC Roy (no relation) enclosure was a departure from the usual safe preview territory. It is a feature of recent England engagements with India that some politely hospitable questioning from Indian journalists has given way to an agreeably searching tone. This was pretty plain-speaking stuff at points as Roy was asked why county cricket does not produce better spinners and why England’s attack does not bowl with a little more variation. The bluntest of them all boiled down to: Jason, you’re heading for a whitewash here, what’s wrong with your team?
To his credit Roy answered with the same frankness. “There’s nothing wrong with our team, mate. We train very hard, we’re all in good spirits. We’ve been undone by some incredible individual performances. We’re still high in confidence and no matter what’s to come we’ll stay confident. We’ll be all right.”
For the record, Roy also stuck up for England’s spinners, current and those coming through the system, while conceding England might not have the quantity of high-class spin bowlers India can call on. But the sense of an unusually hard couple of games on this one-day tour is reflected in England’s likely change of personnel for the third and final ODI.
Alex Hales will miss five to six weeks with the hand-fracture sustained trying to take a catch from MS Dhoni’s bat in Cuttack. Sam Billings is expected to replace him as Roy’s opening partner, from where Billings might also bring a little attacking invention against India’s spinners on a ground that has turned and bounced in the past.
“We have batted together a couple of times and have played against each other a lot,” Roy said. “He’s a fiery batsman and an awesome player and if he gets the nod at No2 that would be great. He’s a great bloke to bat with, runs hard, plays strong shots and that’s exactly what we look for at the top of the order.”
Jonny Bairstow could also come in, a day after being confirmed as a replacement for Hales for the three-match T20 leg of the tour. Otherwise, England will, as ever, look to take the positives as their sights narrow on their ultimate target, that home Champions Trophy in June.
“We want to finish the series on a high and every game between now and the Champions Trophy is a stepping block for us towards that huge competition,” Roy said. “Although we got outplayed we put in some serious performances. We got 350 in the first game and 366 in the second game and lost both of them but the positives to come out of that are amazing.”
Roy also expressed a certain disappointment not to have made a match-defining hundred in Pune or Cuttack, having played fluently to get past 50 in rapid time. Still, another undeniable personal positive is his own form in India before the IPL auction in two weeks’ time. Asked how he might try to take that opportunity with four white-ball matches still to go before then Roy was again fairly blunt: “I take the opportunity by being picked up by one of the IPL owners. I’ve put myself in the auction so we’ll see how it goes.”
Despite the series defeat England’s batsmen have made some ripples here. Ben Stokes is said to be an object of interest for more than one franchise, among them Kolkata Knight Riders. Another perky performance at Eden Gardens, KKR home turf, might be timely.
England will simply be looking to play the same way but better. The past two games have hung on fine margins. England restricted India to 356 for seven off 48.1 overs in Pune. The batsmen put together England’s highest score in a run chase in Cuttack. They lost both games, if not comfortably then with a little something to spare. The need for a little more precision in the bowling has been mentioned, as has a lack of well-executed variation. Roy also pointed to a slight slackening from England’s recent high standards in the field.
Either way, this team of adrenal, fast-forward England one-day cricketers can expect another night of heat and light in Kolkata.
