ENGLAND: 246 & 316/6 (O Pope 148*(208), B Duckett 47(52), J Bumrah 2-29(12)) LEAD INDIA: 436 (R Jadeja 87(180), KL Rahul 86(123), J Root 4-79(29)) by 126 Runs.
Murmurs around Indian cricket Twitter wondered if there was going to be a day 4. Ravindra Jadeja 15 short of his 5th test hundred walked out to the middle with India 175 ahead. England was severely behind, and without quick wickets in the morning session, they had all but lost this match. Root and Wood began proceedings, and were incredibly disciplined to start the day. The first 9 overs conceded only 14 runs. The run rate wasn’t going to worry the Indians, but controlling runs whilst taking wickets had to be England’s main objective. And like puzzle pieces magically falling in place, on the 10th over of the day, Root got Jadeja and Bumrah on consecutive deliveries. Another Indian batter had missed out on a 100, as he went back for 87, whilst Bumrah was bamboozled on his first ball. All of a sudden England were a wicket away from batting again, and they had let India add only 14 runs to the lead so far. Rehan Ahmed was brought in to replace Wood, and he struck in his first over to get through Axar’s defenses. England had executed the magical start to the day they had needed. India added only 15 runs to the lead, leaving a good 70-75 overs for England to climb this mountain.
India began with Bumrah on one end, and Ashwin on the other. Rohit had brought in spin right away, challenging Crawley and Duckett to Bazball Ashwin. And that is what they did. The English batters got out playing defensive shots in the first innings, in complete contrast to the Indians, England had gone into a shell in their first innings. Looked like Brendon McCullum had enough of it. Crawley and Duckett came out playing all kinds of sweeps and aggressive shots. One might call them careless, but they were not here to just survive on the pitch. Scaling a 190-run deficit, they were here to score runs. England scored 44 off the first 9 overs, with Crawley playing all kinds of sweeps and reverse sweeps. Funnily enough, Ashwin caught his edge trying to play a defensive shot. Crawley had come out all guns blazing, and it required a special Ashwin delivery to get rid of him. Next, Duckett kept it going, smacking the Indian spinners all around the park. Pope too had walked in looking uncomfortable and edgy, similar to the first innings. But this time around, hit front foot pushes and defenses brought purpose. If someone didn’t watch the score after Pope’s first 20-25 balls, there was no way they would’ve predicted Pope getting a hundred. It was that kind of a start for England. Everything was clicking, and whilst they made lots and lots of mistakes, Indians couldn’t do anything about it. By lunch, they had scored 89 runs in 15 overs. Edges kept flying, balls kept missing the bats, but none yielded a wicket. Looked like Bazball had been adapted to play on this wicket. As Sanjay Manjrekar very aptly said on ESPNCricinfo, it was a “each man for his own” approach. Everyone was given the liberty to get themselves in any way they found helpful. There was no restriction, but the final goal was still to get runs, and not just survive.
If not for Bumrah’s divine spell post-lunch, India would’ve been in much deeper trouble than they are now. Bumrah had somehow found reverse swing in a 16-over-old ball. Whilst Pope and Duckett scored freely against the spinners, Bumrah sharply swung one into Duckett’s pads in his first over post-lunch, it was not out, but hinted at what the Indian master had in store for England. Whilst Duckett smacked two boundaries in Bumrah’s second over post-lunch, Bumrah came back on the 5th ball smothering Duckett’s stumps. The off stump went for a ride cartwheeling into eternity whilst Bumrah let out a huge roar, punching his fists into the air. This is how much this wicket meant to him. England were gradually coming back into this game, and getting a dangerous Duckett with one of the finest deliveries I have seen on the cricket field on such a wicket was something only Bumrah could do. He doesn’t need green wickets, or overseas conditions to get wickets, Bumrah’s the best fast bowler India has produced in a long time, arguably even the best, and this ball will just be one more showpiece in his museum.
But he wasn’t done yet. In his next over, he troubled Root in the first couple of deliveries, but it was the last ball that did wonders. A sharp length ball turned into the batter with Root missing it completely. A huge shout and despite the DRS, Root had to walk back for just 2(6). Bumrah had flipped the game on its head. England were all of a sudden once again ailing in pain. After a fantastic morning session, they were suddenly 3 down. Bumrah continued for another 2 overs, conceding 4 runs concluding a glorious post-lunch spell of 5 overs picking 2 wickets whilst conceding 17 runs. But here is where the line of tactical questions starts for Rohit. What was the need to take their best bowler off after just 5 overs? If he had continued for another couple of overs, there may have been a couple more wickets, all but winning the game for India. Rohit had a very average day as captain on the field, giving England a respite once again.
Pope picked up on that. Picking apart the spinners in every way possible. He had already played a tremendous amount of sweep shots, the question was how had he not gotten out yet. In complete contrast to his start, fully confident about his batting, judging the balls perfectly, and frustrating the life out of Rohit and his spinners. But just then, Jadeja bowls a magical delivery, setting up Bairstow the previous ball, and pitching the ball at the same spot, the previous delivery spun, but this one went straight into the stumps. Bairstow gleefully left the ball, but it went directly into the stumps. And he had to walk back after what looked like a very defensive and calm innings. Wickets calmed things down, and the run rate gradually reduced. But a few overs post Bairstow’s wicket, Ashwin produced another one of those unreal deliveries to get the danger man Stokes. Getting Stokes for the 12th time, Ashwin produced a delivery pitched up a little, turning sharply into the off stump with Stokes being clueless about the ball. All four of the last dismissals had been hard-earned dismissals. This pitch didn’t assist the bowlers hugely, and toiling in the heat had worked out for the bowlers. Bumrah, Jadeja, and Ashwin had produced 4 wonderful deliveries in one session to wrestle back more advantage for India with England scoring 83 runs post-lunch whilst losing 4 wickets. The 65 balls preceding tea hadn’t produced a single boundary. Pope and Foakes had to slow things down trying to go to tea without losing another wicket.
But the evening session is where it all started going wrong for the Indians. On such pitches, evening sessions are usually easier to bat on as the heat reduces sealing up some of the cracks and marks. And India served runs on a platter to Pope and Foakes. Rohit set increasingly defensive fields the entire session, he looked fearful of not conceding runs. Coming back from tea, England was still 15 runs behind, and even if they scored a few runs, wickets would almost guarantee India a win. But Rohit didn’t even try to get wickets. For the majority of the session, there was just one slip and a silly point. Edges kept flying past the first slip and Bharat kept missing edged balls towards the leg side, but Rohit was determined to not keep a leg slip or more slips there.
Pope kept attempting funky reverse sweeps, reverse scoops, and a reverse ramp shot. India could neither dampen the run flow nor take wickets. Fielders were placed at the edges of the 30-yard circle and near the boundary. Two more slips, a gully, and another silly point would’ve most probably created several chances, but Rohit and coach Dravid had climbed inside a defensive shell. Pope and Foakes kept scoring runs easily. Gradually building England’s lead. Pope had practically neutralized the Indian left-arm off-spinners by playing reverse sweeps. Perfect deliveries to right-handers were smacked to the boundary using reverse sweeps. And whilst the bowlers tried, nothing could unsettle him. The Indians have had to scratch their heads on the field at home after a long time. Pope and Foakes weren’t giving the Indians anything. And KS Bharat and the Indian fielders having an off-day on the field didn’t make things easier for them.
In the 19th over post-tea, Pope got to his 5th test hundred. An innings of a lifetime was rewarded with the highest score by a visiting batter in India since Alastair Cook’s 175 in Ahmedabad in 2012. England had performed a historic turnaround. This was also the first time a visiting team had scored 200+ in India in both innings of a test match in 21 matches. Indians were clueless and had no idea about stopping this partnership. And whilst Rohit kept setting defensive fields to restrict the run flow, Pope and Foakes found funky new ways to score runs. Pope brought out a reverse scoop, a shot I have never seen in my time watching this sport. The English batters were almost flawless.
Until one of Axar Patel’s balls kept low and went and castled Ben Foakes. After a fantastic knock, Foakes would go back disappointed as there wasn’t much he could have done to avoid that dismissal. The ball kept low all of a sudden, and with England 85 ahead and 10 overs to go before stumps, Rehan Ahmed walked in to join Pope on 125. England’s only objective was to not lose any wickets till stumps. And Rehan handled that skillfully, he didn’t even give the bowlers a sniff. Bumrah tried, but he just couldn’t get Rehan out. Pope kept scoring runs, vital runs, taking him to 148 and taking England 126 ahead at stumps.
England would’ve gone back to being a happy team. They had performed the stage 1 of the turnaround. Wrestle back some advantage on Day 3. And they had not only gotten India all out adding only 15 runs to the lead, but they had also built a decent lead. They will build on this 126 to go to 200 or above, and with Pope at the crease, England will hope again.
As for India, they will go back disappointed, disappointed they couldn’t capitalize on Bumrah’s extraordinary spell post-lunch. Tomorrow’s morning session should assist them more. It will be a battle to start the day. Does Rohit continue on the defensive fields? Or does India go on the attack aiming to get wickets? And how does England respond? An exciting day of test cricket is up ahead. See you after the day’s play tomorrow.
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