When England’s jelly-beans tactics invited the wrath of Zaheer Khan

In the 2000s, India started winning away Tests more consistently than they ever had. However, these victories weren’t short of drama and intensity in the way they panned out. Trent Bridge 2007 wasn’t any different, but the intensity levels touched the sky as India dominated the entire duration of the match to secure a series victory. It is fair to say that this Test match belonged to Zaheer Khan as he made the difference between the two sides.

Zaheer Khan’s importance to the Indian Team cannot be illustrated by numbers. It is not just about the wickets he takes but also the way he leads the bowling attack, guides the youngsters and at times gets under the skin of the opposition. We have seen Zaheer bowl brilliant spells on quite a few occasions, but his performance in the Test match against England at Trent Bridge in 2007 should stand out as his best without any doubts. He used the conditions to good effect and when the opposition tried to unnerve him, he used it to motivate himself to deliver a fantastic spell of fast bowling.

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The England-India Test match played at Trent Bridge in 2007 saw everything — the good, the bad and the ugly. The good included a brilliant bowling performance by Zaheer, classy knocks from five of India’s top seven, a fighting hundred by Michael Vaughan and a brilliant spell (but with just a wicket to show) by Ryan Sidebottom. Emotions were running high on both sides and as a result the Test witnessed the bad in the form of sledging and off course jellybeans.

The background to this Test is interesting as India had just got out of jail in the first Test of the series at Lord’s. England had set India a target of 380 to win the match and in reply India were on 282 for nine when the Heavens opened to save the tourists. As India headed towards Nottingham for the second Test, one felt that England had the upperhand but being saved by the scruff at Lord’s would have given the Indians the belief that luck is on their side.

India won the toss and elected to bowl first in helpful conditions for the seamers. Zaheer made an immediate impact as he sent back Andrew Strauss early with a delivery pitched in the corridor of uncertainty.

A few overs later he made the ball move away from Vaughan, who managed to edge it to first slip — two world-class batsmen gone inside the first 10 overs. These two wickets were crucial because if Strauss and Vaughan got into their zone, England could pile on the runs. England struggled and ended up with just 198 on the board. Zaheer finished with 4 for 59 and the damage he did early on was crippled England a fair bit.

India scored 481 to take a 283-run lead. Five of India’s top seven played classy knocks to help India gain the massive advantage. Sachin Tendulkar top-scored with 91. Tendulkar was denied his hundred, courtesy a shocking decision by Simon Taufel. To add insult to injury, Sourav Ganguly too was at the receiving end of another shocker by Taufel as he adjudged him caught behind when there was no contact between bat and ball.

There was one moment during the Indian innings that threatened to mar the Test match, but it turned out to be the spark that generated the fire inside Zaheer. Apparently, the English players threw jellybeans on the pitch when Zaheer was batting. He didn’t keep his feelings to himself as he had a war of words with Kevin Pietersen and gave him a piece of his mind. One could see that the tempers were running high and Zaheer was visibly upset. Little did anyone know, what was to come. The English certainly didn’t see it coming.

England walked in to bat late on Day Three and by then the conditions for batting were much better than what they had to encounter in their first innings. They ended the day on 43 for no loss, entertaining thoughts of saving the match.

When they came in to bat the next day, Zaheer was at his lethal best. He was getting the ball to move both ways, was extracting extra bounce on the odd delivery and was brilliant with his variations.

He first sent back Alastair Cook by exploiting his exaggerated movement across the stumps and trapping him plumb in front. Strauss and Vaughan resisted and looked set as they made Indian bowlers work even harder. It was an even contest between bat and ball. Zaheer and RP Singh were moving the ball and making it difficult for the batsmen. At the same time the batsmen were quick to punish the odd bad balls and were resilient in their approach to the good ones. However, patience got the better of Strauss as he fell to a widish, away-going delivery by Zaheer. MS Dhoni took a good low catch and Strauss walked back with his head in his hands.

Vaughan continued to fight and reached his hundred and was going along smoothly when Zaheer decided to change his angle by coming around the wicket. Vaughan was well settled and it needed something really different to dismiss him. With the score at 287 for 3, Zaheer bowled a delivery that was coming in to Vaughan. The batsman tried to play it to leg, only to find that but Lady Luck had other ideas. He got an inside edge to his body and on to his stumps. Zaheer ran around the park knowing that he was lucky, but he deserved it as he had troubled the batsmen all day long.

Zaheer got the important wicket but he didn’t change his angle and persisted with his around the wicket approach. Two balls after Vaughan dismissal, Ian Bell was sent packing for a duck as the ball moved back in to him and trapped him in front of the stumps. Just when England wiped off the deficit and it looked like they could save the match, Zaheer changed it in the space of three balls.

Having missed a fiver in the first innings, Zaheer knew that the opportunity was there. Paul Collingwood was still in as he looked to guide the tail into a resisting act. However, Zaheer induced him to play a cover drive which he managed to edge it to Dinesh Karthik at first slip. India knew victory was in sight and Zaheer knew he had set-up a famous victory. Trent Bridge had witnessed a dramatic England collapse all due to Zaheer and not to forget RP who got the crucial wickets of Pietersen and Matt Prior. Anil Kumble then wrapped up the tail and India needed 73 in the final innings to register a win. The target was achieved with three minor hiccups along the way.

What makes this performance special is the way Zaheer changed the Test match in a spell. He had taken two wickets early on, but his three wickets after England went past India’s lead changed the direction of the game. At one stage it looked like England would comfortably bat themselves into a situation of safety. All that changed when Zaheer sent back Vaughan and Bell in the same over.

One thing is for sure, England’s jellybeans tactics clearly misfired.

Brief scores:

England 198 (Alastair Cook 43; Zaheer Khan 4 for 59, Anil Kumble 3 for 32) and 355 (Andrew Strauss 55, Michael Vaughan 124, Paul Collingwood 63; Zaheer Khan 5 for 75, Anil Kumble 3 for 104) lost to India 481 (Dinesh Karthik 77, Wasim Jaffer 62, Sachin Tendulkar 91, Sourav Ganguly 79, VVS Laxman 54; Chris Tremlett 3 for 80, Monty Panesar 4 for 101) and 73 for 3 (Chris Tremlett 3 for 12) by 7 wickets.

Man of the Match: Zaheer Khan.

(Nishad Pai Vaidya, a 20-year-old law student, is a club and college-level cricketer. His teachers always complain, “He knows the stats and facts of cricket more than the subjects we teach him.”)