India v England, 1st Test, Day 4 - 5 Talking Points

Rajkot proved to be a batting paradise for both India and England for a majority of the first 3 days of the Test. After England piled up a mammoth 537 on the board, the onus was on India to not concede a big lead. They did exactly that kudos to twin tons by Cheteshwar Pujara and Murali Vijay on the day 3. The day 4 was expected to have a lot of fireworks in store. With Virat Kohli set at the crease, all eyes were on the Indian skipper. The day started with Ajinkya Rahane getting out cheaply.

Things turned worse when Kohli found himself being out hit-wicket. The English bowlers clawed right back into the match. India looked to be giving away a big lead. However, a gutsy 70 from Ravichandran Ashwin saw India posting 488 with England having a lead of 49 runs. The last session belonged entirely to England as the English openers added 114 runs in 37 overs. Both Haseeb Hameed and Alastair Cook gave very few chances to the Indian bowlers to strike on penultimate day. The match looks set for a draw.

Here are five talking points from the recently-concluded day’s play:

1.Virat Kohli’s bizarre dismissal

Team India skipper had all eyes on him when he walked in to bat on day 4. Resuming from his overnight score of 26. The kind of form he is in, expectations were soaring high from the young man. He hit two brilliant fours to start off his account for the day. However, it was in the 120th over of the innings when Kohli dragged his foot right on the stumps to dislodge the bail. It was a short delivery by Adil Rashid. Kohli rocked to his backfoot to pull the ball towards deep mid-wicket. He successfully did that but in the process, it was his left leg that hit the stumps. He was dismissed on 40. Virat Kohli became the only batsman to get out Hit-Wicket at least once against the same opposition in both ODIs and Tests.

2.English butter fingers and India’s middle order collapse

The first two days of the Test saw India’s fielders struggle with their fielding. They were seen dropping simple catches. Fielding standards were below par by the hosts. The visitors did not have a very great day either with their fielding. Jonny Bairstow dropped Wriddhiman Saha off the bowling of Ben Stokes when Saha had just arrived at the crease. Later, India’s score was 460 when skipper Alastair Cook dropped a sitter in the slips. Shami, the last wicket, had edged Broad straight into the hands of Cook. India went on to add 28 more runs to their score thereafter. India would anyway be disappointed with the way their middle order played. Barring Ashwin, no other batsman crossed the 50 run mark. The likes of Kohli, Rahane, Jadeja and Saha missed out on a batting beauty.

3. Ashwin leads the fightback, hits a hurtful 70 to England

England were bossing the game when they got the priced scalp of the Indian skipper. Little did they know that they were up against R Ashwin next. While wickets kept tumbling from one end, Ashwin held the fort at the other. Not only did he keep the scorecard ticking, he did not throw his wicket away. He played his shots and when he started running out of partners, he took a few calculated risks too. With 9 wickets down and Ashwin on 49, the Tamil Nadu player decided to take all on himself. He guarded the last man, Shami, for a brief while as he added crucial runs. He added 29 runs for the last wicket with Shami before being dismissed on 70. His knock came in 139 deliveries with 7 fours.

4. English batsmen pile on the agony

England openers Alastair Cook and Haseeb Hameed did exceedingly well to adapt tp the tricky conditions at Rajkot. The pitch was expected to turn on the last two days and very few gave England the chance of surviving the spin threat from India. With the likes of Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Amit Mishra to negotiate with, it was an uphill task for the English batters. The way they played out the Indian spinners is commendable. They added 114 runs in 37 overs by the end of the day’s play. Hameed brought up his maiden Test fifty on his debut. He remained unbeaten on 62 and Alastiar Cook looked good for his unbeaten 46 too.

5. Indian spinners go ineffective

Much against the expected speculations, the Indian spinners looked ineffective on the penultimate day of the Test match. The track at Rajkot was expected to become a turner on the last two days of the match. Indian spinners thereby should have been the beneficiary of it. However, some exemplary batting by the English openers Alastair Cook and Haseeb Hameed saw Indian spinners look wayward. Neither Ashwin nor Jadeja could be successful in getting India an early breakthrough. Ashwin and Jadeja bowled 10 overs each as Amit Mishra bowled 6 overs. Their cumulative 26 overs never threatened the English batsmen even for a brief spell.