India v England, 4th Test, Day 2 - 5 Talking Points

England started the second day with 288 runs on the board and two almost set batsmen at the crease. Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler had survived the last spell by Ravichandran Ashwin but the Indian ace struck early in the morning today but the lower-order stayed around as Buttler ensured they managed exactly 400 runs in the first inning. India in their reply were solid and strong; meeting the expectation both the openers looked good and the English pacers hardly had anything to bowl with.

They did manage to scalp a quick wicket as Moeen Ali removed KL Rahul with a beauty but the second wicket pair of Murali Vijay and Cheteshwar Puajra was too good for the 7 bowlers Alastair Cook deployed. Having scored 146 runs for the loss of one wicket and two of their most assured batsmen well set India certainly hold advantage in the game and will here on look to clear off the deficit and take first innings lead.

1. Ben Stokes dismissal:

In the second over of the day, a Ravi Ashwin delivery drew the batsman forward, just about kissed the outside edge of the bat while also hitting the ground and was taken well by skipper Virat Kohli at first slip. The Indians went up, they were certain it was out but umpire Bruce Oxenford didn’t think so. They demanded a referral and third umpire Shamsuddin who had a close look at the UltraEdge took his time consulted someone around him and then though the spike of the edge was evident enough for him to overturn the on-field umpire’s decision. Stokes was clearly unhappy but walked off without showing any dissent.

2. Ravi Ashwin’s five-wicket haul

Ashwin had picked three quick wickets in his last spell on day 1 and clearly suggested he had picked the line, length and pace at which he will be most effective on this wicket. He struck early in the morning to claim yet another five-wicket haul of his young and maturing career. Ashwin now has 23 five-wicket hauls in 43 Test. With that he overtook Kapil Dev’s record for the most five-wicket hauls by an Indian bowler and is just behind Harbhajan Singh and current Indian coach Anil Kumble. He claimed another wicket that of Jake Ball to end the inning with 6 wickets.

3. Jos Buttler’s counter-attacking knock

While the spinners dictated their terms Jos Buttler tried his best to not be bothered about any of it. He had a huge responsibility at hand; if England lost any further wickets, they would have once again dropped the momentum of having won the toss. He lost his overnight partner early but Buttler stitched crucial partnerships with Chris Woakes and Jake Ball. He was the last man to fall and took the team total to 400 which has given them enough runs to come hard at the Indians. Buttler scored 76 runs, showed lot of application and handled the situation really well.

4. Jadeja accounts for 4

While the major focus has been on Ravi Ashwin in the last few series’ since the off-spinner has been in dreamy form, Ravindra Jadeja’s contribution cannot go unnoticed. He isn’t the big turner of the ball but relies on his accuracy and variation in pace. When skipper Kohli almost tried everything and wasn’t able to get the breakthrough he turned to Jaddu and he got him the wicket of Alastair Cook. Today, he accounted for 3 of the 5 wickets that fell. The left-arm spinner first broke the Buttler-Woakes partnership then didn’t let Adil Rashid get in and at the end concluded things with the wicket of Buttler. Jaddu finished the inning with figures of 37.1-5-109-4.

5. India off to a strong start

The visitors had posted a challenging total and with 400 runs on the board believed they could well put the Indians under pressure. But the opening pair of KL Rahul and Murali Vijay batted with authority, they gave clear signs to their mates in the dressing room that the wicket was still good to bat on if they applied themselves. Rahul was eventually dismissed by a beautiful devilry from Moeen Ali that found the gap between his bat and pads and crashed his timber.

Pujara and Vijay two batsmen the team heavily relies on were in complete control of the game then on. The English spinners Ali and Adil Rashid bowled too many loose deliveries and with their class and level of the game was too easy to put away. Both the batsmen scored freely and took the team over the 100-run mark. Vijay also got to his half century (70*) and is looking good while Pujara is also batted well for his 47. Team India ended the day at 146/1 and certainly took the last couple of sessions of the day