Image Credit- AFP
There was a feeling
of expectation for England on the second day. Their hitters had crumbled in the
last session of the previous day, taking their bowlers apart, but a new
beginning in the morning, with James Anderson two wickets shy of 700 Test
wickets, held hopes of a spectacular comeback.
Shubman Gill, who stepped out and cleared the straight boundary off Anderson,
punched through the first huge hole in that endeavour with an amazing six down
the ground. On the soft surface, the England veteran’s changes in lengths
didn’t help either, giving Gill ample time to position himself to thread the
offside field with his cut shot.
Even that was tested
early on by Rohit Sharma, as the Indian captain skillfully steered an Anderson
delivery past the first slip fielder’s reach and onto the third man boundary
after Stokes moved his second slip to leg slip.
Anderson was limited to a three-over period because Stokes’s next move was to
take advantage of Mark Wood’s pace to come close to India’s second-wicket
combination. However, the pitch’s lifelessness again gave the pair the upper
hand. Deliveries bowled at 146 mph didn’t appear to require Gill to retreat or
adopt a defensive, safe approach. At such pace, Gill could easily get on top of
a ball and drive past covers. Wood bowed his head to execute a six-over move on
either side of the drinks break, barely bowling a ball under 140 kmphs and was
yet taken for 39 runs.
With four men in
deep cover looking to latch onto a mishit, Stokes tried to set up a confident
Rohit with a 6-3 leg side field. The India skipper kept his pull shots down the
ground even as Wood angled his bumpers into Rohit’s body, and he then played a shot
that gave Gill’s consecutive six off Anderson a serious competition. Rohit
moved out from his leg stump and smacked a short ball past mid-off for four
when there was no one watching the offside fence.
Amidst England’s
valiant attempts to claw their way back, Stokes bowled a ball that swung and
seam to remove his opposite number for the first time in Tests in 251 days,
while Anderson claimed his 699th Test victim, Gill. Furthermore, despite the
fact that Amidst England’s valiant attempts to claw their way back, Stokes
bowled a ball that swung and seam to remove his opposite number for the first
time in Tests in 251 days, while Anderson claimed his 699th Test victim, Gill.
Devdutt Padikkal,
his batting partner and India’s fifth debutant of the series, had a nervous
start but was able to consistently drive and cut his way to comfort thanks to
erroneous lengths from Anderson and Stokes. Stokes tried to get through at
Wood’s pace again in the second session after refreshments.
The plan was sound:
rattle them with a pace they wouldn’t have encountered when playing for their
state sides, especially for two hitters who had only played two Test matches
together had all the experience from domestic cricket. However, Wood fired blanks
once more as Sarfaraz confidently started to improvise. He even gave the fast
bowler a bad rap by veering off course and hitting a short ball that was aiming
at his body at 145 mph and past the slip cordon for a four. In response, Wood
sledded, which only served to inflame the Mumbai batter’s growing contempt.
With astounding ease, a short ball travelling at 144 kmph was pulled for a six.
England’s greatest
triumph under Stokes and McCullum, in Pakistan in 2022, was largely attributed
to their impressive first-inning performances. The batters raised the Bazball
flag in flair when they were there, but they stumbled over their own feet after
falling victim to baits in Dharamsala. While Rohit may not have studied
England’s strategy in great detail before the game, he and his batsmen provided
the ideal real-world example to increase the series’ chances of ending in a 4-1
victory.