Image Credit- BCCI
So then, James Anderson was wrong after all. The
England pacer’s outlandish claim of his side able to chase a total as big as
600 was brutally dispatched by the wayside as India handed out a proper
hammering to the visitors as they take a 2-1lead in this series with 2 more
matches to go.
After well and truly making yesterday their own, India
came out and continued more of the same as they found different ways to utterly
batter England into submission. While Shubman Gill was playing the way he
always does, it was nightwatchman Kuldeep Yadav who decided to have some fun on
his 4th successive exploit with the bat. And boy did he have fun. Defending
well, striking his maiden six in international cricket, forcing England to
waste a review, running Shubman Gill out nine short of a hundred, and
eventually injuring Joe Root’s finger when he offered him the catch that proved
to be fatal, Kuldeep absolutely dominated the opening exchanges.
England’s respite was short as out strode Jaiswal and continued
exactly from where he left off. With his Mumbai senior, but India junior, Test
debutant Sarfaraz Khan, Jaiswal regained his observant demeanour before
engaging in a power-hitting and gap-finding demonstration and competition.
After Sarfaraz could only muster 68 in a 172-run partnership in just 26.2
overs, Jaiswal emerged victorious.
Jaiswal’s attack featured a sweep, an extra-cover drive, a smash back down the
ground, and a hat-trick of sixes against James Anderson. By the end of that
over, Jaiswal had reached 180, and he began to slow down as he approached 200.
That was just an opportunity for Sarfaraz to shine. In
an attempt to thwart Rehan Ahmed’s strategy of bowling into the rough outside
the leg stump, he started his attack with slow sweeps. Subsequently, he
eliminated Root, who had been bowling with his leg side. There was a chance
that he may convert his two fifties in his debut into a fifty and a hundred
when he struck Rehan for a six, four, and a six in the 98th over. However,
Rohit Sharma ended the innings, dismissing England for 557 in roughly 130 overs.
After four half-century opening stands in the previous
five innings, India needed to make some corrections at the beginning of the
innings. The ball moved a little bit for Mohammed Siraj and Jasprit Bumrah
because they were well on target. Two maidens opened the innings. Ben Duckett
took 12 balls to reach the boundary before looking for a risky single in the
seventh over. However, debutant wicketkeeper Dhruv Jurel’s sprint to the
wicket, where he collected a throw on the half-volley and broke the wicket even
while moving, resulted in a run-out. In the series, this was England’s first
opening stand of under 40.
During a lengthy eight-over session that was divided
by tea, Bumrah put the top order to the test. Zak Crawley was leg before wicket
after one of the balls sailed in past his inside edge. R Ashwin returned to
action after the tea break, having left Rajkot on the second night to attend to
a family health emergency.
On the other hand, Ashwin didn’t have to do much. Kuldeep and Ravindra Jadeja
were everywhere in England. The first person to fall was Ollie Pope, who
attempted to cut but was stopped by a swift turn and a deft catch made by Rohit
at slip.
There was a clear disparity in the two sets of
spinners’ quality. The ball behaved erratically for India, appearing to be in
close proximity to a wicket despite its bounce. After over thirty minutes of
India being frustrated by Ben Foakes and Tom Hartley, Jadeja returned to grab
two of the final three wickets. Along with his first-inning century in his
homeland, it was the first five-for for an India spinner this series, and it
put an end to a challenging week in which a domestic issue made headlines.
After making the arduous journey to Chennai and back, Ashwin found a wicket in
between the two wickets, making it his 250th victim to go with 251 right-hand
ones.