INDIA: 421/7 (KL Rahul 86(123), R Jadeja 81*(155), J Root 2-77 (24)) lead ENGLAND: 246 (B Stokes 70(88), J Bairstow 37(58), R Ashwin 3-68 (21)) by 175 runs.
Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill walked out to bat on Day 2 with India 127 runs behind. After an incredible evening session for Jaiswal, he walked in full of confidence, hit a boundary on the first ball, and a couple of deliveries later, scooped one directly to Joe Root. KL came in at number 4, edged a ball early on and Foakes failed to carry it. And that was that for the time being. A long partnership toiled the English bowlers. Although Rahul looked nervous and uncomfortable early on, Hartley's bowling without a mid-on got Rahul two good boundaries and got him going. Gill is probably the only batter in the Indian side who attempted to play classical test cricket. Defended several deliveries on his front foot, but after a point, defended a little too much. So much so that he lost his patience and stepped out and hit two shots, one of them landed safely, but the other one caught Duckett at mid-wicket, giving Hartley his maiden scalp.
At this point, Ben Stokes was showing a little too much faith in Hartley. Joe Root, who had easily been England’s best bowler was taken off after a 4-over spell, and they lost all the momentum they had gotten after an early wicket. KL took the onus to start smashing balls, took advantage of Hartley's bowling, and picked him to pieces. England’s sole firepower pacer Mark Wood was brought in to target Shreyas Iyer who did look a little iffy to start proceedings, but before Wood could bowl to Iyer, KL smashed three boundaries off his first over, one of them an outside edge, but the other two highlight worthy. One is a very classic KL cut-through cover, and the other is a glorious paddle slap through the side. England had lost all momentum they had built with the Gill wicket, and here is where Stokes’ inexperience as a captain showed. His first time in India as captain has brought enormous challenges for him, setting too many attacking fields and leaking runs without creating enough chances. If England wants to do well in this series, Stokes needs to learn and adapt quickly.
Hartley and Wood restricted the run flow for a couple of overs, but in the process, Shreyas got going, and although his shots weren’t the prettiest to watch, he began a ruthless onslaught on the bowlers. After starting at 5(20), Shreyas had gotten to 35(60), looking increasingly more confident. But ended up being overaggressive, and tried to slog sweep Rehan Ahmed for a six, instead, the ball went directly to the fielder at mid-wicket, and the English plan had worked, a dangerous-looking Iyer was walking back for 35. But, Rahul had decided he was not going to give England any momentum. In Rehan Ahmed’s next couple of overs, KL smashed him for two fours and two magnificent sixes. Two sixes wowed the Hyderabad crowd. KL was batting in another dimension, after a slow iffy start, he was batting like a dream. Especially his late cuts on the backfoot whilst facing spinners. He is a fantastic player of spin and it showed. He rarely went on the attack, going front foot on a flighted delivery. Stayed back in the crease, and used his feet menacingly hammering the balls through gaps. When KL bats like this, bowlers get stuck, and it feels like there is no way to get him out, especially with England’s inexperienced bowling lineup.
Rahul quieted down, and Jadeja got going. Hitting a few boundaries and a six. Jadeja too, had gotten himself in, understood the pitch, and began the onslaught after. Rahul got to a phenomenal 86 around 40 minutes before tea, and had a chance to make it big, but similar to Jaiswal and Iyer, tried to hammer one over deep midwicket, but Hartley got the better of him, and no hundred for KL. And this had been a trend in the Indian batting lineup this innings. Bogus unnecessary shots got all of them dismissed. And everyone scoring above 20 so far indicated everyone got themselves in, and then tried to be overaggressive and fell. Not sure what was going on, but a ridiculous way to throw away wickets. Intent probably doesn’t belong in this format. This format is all about patience, perseverance, and classic batting. Truth be told, I am disappointed with the way Indian batters lost their wickets. India might be in a very dominant position, but they have thrown away wickets.
England saw light at the end of the tunnel, a chance to create momentum just before tea. And they bowled wonderfully in the 11 overs before tea. They only conceded 21 runs, forcing the batters to defend most deliveries. They bowled stump to stump, with better fields. Not even Jadeja was going for it. And KS Bharat being the conventional batter he is, was comfortable just defending the ball. Stokes did try to set traps for him multiple times, trying to get him to step out, or loft one, but he didn’t budge. India carefully went to tea, with a 63-run lead, and England wrestled back momentum.
Root and Rehan started post-tea, and Root instantly created chances. In Root’s first 3 overs post-tea, he produced several appeals, a couple just missing the stumps, one with an edge, and one just nearly missing the first slip. Root had been the star of the show so far, and unlike other English bowlers, he wasn’t giving the Indians any width. He was bowling on the stumps cramping up batters for room. But England were unlucky, furthermore, they had exhausted all three of their reviews in the first 14 overs. England had a bit of momentum, but they couldn’t make use of it. And 7 overs post-tea, Jadeja brought out the word celebrating a well-composed 50. He was aggressive when he needed to be, and defensive and careful when the situation demanded. His underperformance in the recent past had brought up questions on his game against spin, and although these weren’t top-class spinners bowling, he had batted masterfully here. And this had been a feature of most Indian batters this innings. They had played the majority of their innings on the backfoot. And that is the key to success in India. As I mentioned in the Day 1 review, good batters against spin play the flighted deliveries on the back foot, watching the ball, whilst not getting tempted by it.
England took the new ball in the 85th over, hoping for some miracle late in the day, that would give them something to play for on the 3rd day. Bharat had gotten going, hitting 3 boundaries, and looking supremely comfortable playing all kinds of shots. But, in the 89th over, tried to sweep a ball off Root, and it directly hit his pads, fortunately for England, the umpire lifted his finger. Bharat reviewed it, and it turned out to be the umpire’s call on hitting. Bharat had to walk back on 41, and a well-composed patient 41 came to an end.
India 6 down, when Ashwin and Jadeja miscommunicated, and Foakes ran Ashwin out. Ashwin had to walk back for 1, and England all of a sudden found some respite, at 7 down, outcame India’s last batter, Axar Patel. There were still a lot of overs left in the day, and England hoped again that a turnaround was possible. Ben Stokes bowled Root for a long 13-over spell post-tea in hopes of another wicket, and although there were a few chances created, Axar and Jadeja gave England nothing.
A boring uneventful period followed next, where Axar and Jadeja batted supremely carefully, getting a few runs here and there, and giving England no chances. They were batting like the proper batters they are. England had found something post-tea, but the game was once again getting out of their reach. Axar Patel hit the last three balls of the day for a four, six, and a four taking India to 421 and leading England by 175 runs. The game is already out of England’s reach. And barring a miracle tomorrow, India has almost guaranteed themselves a winning start to the series. England’s inexperience showed, alongside questionable decisions from Stokes. Jadeja is nearing his 4th test hundred, whilst Axar is 15 away from his 5th test 50. England will have gone back, regrouped, and would hope for magic in the morning. India is on a mountain that is still scaleable, and Ben Stokes will still believe they can. See you after the day’s play tomorrow.
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