India v England, 1st Test, Day 2 – 5 Talking Points

Spinners Ravichandran Ashwin and Jayant Yadav strangled the English batting order and reduced them to 103/5 at stumps on day two of the 2nd Test. The last session of the day saw England lose 4 top order wickets as they appeared to be completely losing their plot batting reply to India’s huge first innings total.

Joe Root was the only batsman who could make any substantial contribution with the bat for the visitors. The right-hander scored 53 before losing his wicket to a misjudged shot. Ben Stokes and Jonny Bairstow took care of the happenings in the final few overs and ensured England did not slip further.

Earlier, India went on to post 455 after resuming to bat on their overnight score of 317/4. Kohli could not bat for long in the morning session and departed. A slight slump followed after off-spinner Moeen Ali struck with back to back wickets. However, Ashwin and Jayant Yadav led the revival and helped India end in a dominating position.

1.Not second time lucky:

Kohli and Ashwin began the fresh day on a strokeful note as the scoreboard moved easily for the hosts. But, ten overs into the game, both the Indian batsmen, off-spinner Ali and Ben Stokes got involved in a dramatic incident. Two balls, two different batsmen and two dropped catches. The 101st over was all about frustration quickly followed by a huge moment of delight for England.

India had a comfortably crossed the 350 runs mark but Cook and his spinners were relentlessly trying. But, with Kohli and Ashwin batted steadily, a couple of mistimed shots and a leading edge was the only reward the spinners managed before Ali created two chances off successive deliveries. The second ball of the over saw Ashwin edging a wider delivery straight into the hands of Stokes, who to everyone’s surprise spilt the catch.

The loose stroke yielded a run and the strike was exchanged. Ali tried a similar delivery to Kohli. The ball was straight on the driving length and Kohli’ was lured into doing the same. Unfortunately, he could not connect the way he was doing so far and edged a slighter tougher catch to Stokes. The all-rounder grabbed it perfectly and let out a frustrated celebration.

2. Ashwin proves to be a consistent batsman:

Kohli’s departure initially hurt India’s momentum. After giving the much-needed breakthrough for his team, Ali snapped two more wickets in space of just three balls. Wriddhiman Saha and Ravindra Jadeja, both the batsmen could not sustain for long and were picked by Ali without ant problem.

India looked to be crumbling. But, fortunately, Ashwin (58) and Jayant Yadav (35) led the revival and the host once again looked to be in firm position. While Ashwin has proved his batting credentials in the past, it was exciting to see Yadav dig in with his senior pro. The pair added 64 runs for the 8th wicket and took the Indian score past 400 runs mark adding to the frustration of the bowling side.

3. Shami breaks Cook’s off-stump into two:

It is every fast bowler’s dream to clean bowl the batsman and send the stumps cart-wheeling. It is the most satisfying things a fast bowler can see happening off his bowling. Not only the fast bowler, the spectators get full of excitement after watching such stuff happen.

But, as far as seamer Mohammad Shami is concerned, he doesn’t seem someone who gets satisfied with such mainstream things. He prefers to break the defence of the batsman as well as break the stumps into two.

This was the exact scene which happened when Shami brought India its first breakthrough. Thanks to his perfect in-swinger, the hosts managed to send the dangerous Alastair Cook packing in the 3rd over of the match. Cook looked in no position to deal with the delivery which swung in sharply and hit the top of the off stump, breaking it into two pieces.

4. Duckett clueless against Ashwin:

Youngster Ben Duckett, who made an impressive debut against Bangladesh, hasn’t really found a way to prove his worth. The left-hander was able to make only 13 runs at Rajkot and unfortunately carried his poor form at Vishakapatnam as well.

Coming into bat after the Hameed ran himself out, the 22-year-old could not go further than making 5 runs and was dismissed by Ravichandran Ashwin by a peach of a delivery. A nicely looped delivery drifted into the middle and the leg stump and gripped enough to beat the batsmen’s outside edged and clean him up. The wicket purely belonged to the bowler and Duckett did nothing wrong except leaving the off stump exposed.

5. Joe Root tries fighting back:

Joe Root was England’s only successful batsman today. By the Tea break, England had already lost one wicket. Shami removed Cook cheaply and put the batting side under pressure right away. But, Root stayed defiant and bailed out England from a tricky situation to some extent at least if not wholly.

Root brought stability at the initial stages before he lost his wicket to a hasty shot. Firstly, he combined with Haseeb Hameed and took the innings further, helping his side cross the fifty run mark. But, soon lost his partner after the 19-year-old ran himself out in the 21st over.

Despite, having a struggling Duckett at the other end, Root kept the scoreboard moving. It was unfortunate that he could not bat till the end of the day and lost his wicket just after reaching his fifty. But, it won’t be wrong to say that it was due to his fightback that England managed to end the day on bit optimistic note.