India v England, 1st Test, Day 3 Review: Vijay, Pujara make the Englishmen toil

Cheteshwar Pujara and Murali Vijay kept England at bay for almost the whole day to help India balloon its overall total to 319/4 in reply to England massive first innings total of 537 runs. The SCA stadium at Rajkot saw two special centuries been hit coming off the bats of Vijay and Pujara. While Vijay efforts can be appreciated for its worth to the team efforts, Pujara’s happened a to be a moment of for pride for the home crowd and his family watching him bat.

Gautam Gambhir, who batted very steadily yesterday, was snapped of the seventh ball of the day. Pujara and Vijay, successfully thwarted the English bowlers and made them sweat out under the neutered the English bowling attack completely and put up 209 runs for the 2nd wicket.

It wasn’t a smooth sail for India. This can be understood with the fact that the duo added only 99 in the first session and 66 in the second session. While run came at a very gentle pace, the duo ensured that the opposition bowling never go on top and never allowed them to settle.

The Test has been demanding for the bowlers. The Englishmen had a very grinding day bowling on the surface which has now turned out to be a featherbed. There was turn but not enough to alarm the batsman The pitch also showed absolutely no hint of any movement.

England began with the pace-swing option of Chris Broad and Moeen Ali. There was an instant success as Gambhir gave away his wicket to Broad off his fist delivery of the day. A full angling delivery struck the left-hander bang in front of the pad. The decision was plumb and Gambhir did not even bother about going for the review and started walking off immediately. England had drawn the fist blood. But, little did they know that a day full of toil awaits them. As the home cheered loudly, home boy Pujara walked in and took guard and went on to occupy the crease for the next two  sessions with Vijay.

Fast bowlers Chris Woakes, Stuart Broad and Ben Stokes bowled testing spell with very little return. There was no short of attempts to unsettle the batsman. The trio kept trying and trying using different tactics. Woakes used backward length and hit Pujara thrice on the head while Broad tried the uppish length and almost got Vijay on 66 had debutant Haseeb Hameed not dropped him at covers. Spinners Ali and Rashid tried bowling on the rough patch but could not hinder the duo’s concentration.

Ironically, Pujara, who is generalized as an accumulator, was stroking his way towards the century at a faster rate. In fact, Pujara’s was scoring at a strike rate of 90 plus initially while Vijay’s strike, at some point around in the afternoon, had dropped to below 35. After scoring 6 off 32 balls, Pujara made full use of the half-volleys provided by Stokes and gained the momentum hitting 21 of the next 25 balls.

In contrast, Vijay batted in one flow. He cared little about the ball that was going away and put full concentration against the spinners and took advantages of the chances which came along the way. The lofted six off Ansari early in the opening session was one example of it.

As the tea session arrived Pujara has neared his century and eventually completed it after spending eight balls on 99. The jubilant moment had come and the home crowd jumped in the century celebration. Among the huge Rajkot were two family members, Cheteshwar Pujara’s wife Pooja and his father and childhood coach Arvind Pujara.

The tea session, however, in some way belonged to England. They were finally able to break the stand when the Pujara lost his wicket to Ben Stokes. Kohli and Vijay took things further before Adil Rashid foxed Vijay with a google and got hi caught at short leg. Kohli for the first time in his 18 Test career as skipper sent a nightwatchman when Amit Mishra walked in. But, the umpires had to call stumps immediately as the leg spinner could not survive and was dismissed after playing just two balls.

Brief Score:

England: 537 (Ben Stokes 128; Ravindra Jadeja 3/86)

India: 319/4 (Murali Vijay 128; Ben Stokes 1/39)