Without R Ashwin, India’s bowling resources were depleted and, after a mauling on day two, lacked confidence. Sarah Waris looks at how they showed the way with a lion-hearted performance on Saturday.
The term ‘Bazball’ was in abundant use yet again after England, led by Ben Duckett, ran away to 207-2 in just 35 overs to reduce the deficit to 238 runs at the end of day two in Rajkot. Duckett, in particular, stood out, with the third-fastest hundred against India in India, as England scored at 5.91 an over.
Apart from R. Ashwin’s 500th wicket, India had little to gain on the day. Jasprit Bumrah lacked his usual bite with the new ball. Kuldeep Yadav could not answer Duckett’s sweeps and reverse sweeps and finished with seven overs. Mohammed Siraj bowled too much. Indeed, Ashwin should have joined the attack earlier against the left-handed batsmen, while Ravindra Jadeja, who was in middling form, bowled just 4 overs.
No matter what India tried, it failed. They tried to bowl stump to stump but Duckett hit the line perfectly. He managed to hit five times in the first four overs, but his aggressive approach eventually wore India down. Kuldeep sent a false ball down the ground but Olly Pope reached the pitch of the ball and took a big hit. Jadeja tried to bowl faster, but Pope played a daring paddle sweep and dill scoop behind the wicket, allowing India to fall behind.
These problems worsened overnight when Ashwin withdrew from the test citing personal reasons. India did not have full substitutes in place so they started Saturday’s match with just four specialists, but all had to compete more than ever. Five bowlers allow plenty of cooling time between plays, giving the captain a chance to experiment. India had a magic bowler here in Bumrah, but along with him, they also had Kuldeep and Siraj, who tended to be erratic, and Jadeja, who bowled without Ashwin for the first time in a home Test. The match and the series were going well and something great needed to happen to take over England.
The next 36.1 overs showed the hosts’ indomitable spirit as they completed a remarkable comeback. The first session was highlighted by Kuldeep’s understated extended spell. Kuldeep found his grip, bounce, big turns and mixed in variations to keep the batsmen unsettled. The change in action up front has given Kuldeep more consistency with his line and length. He dismissed Jonny Bairstow with a ball that rotated 8.3 degrees and justified the captain’s faith in choosing Kuldeep over Axar Patel for the Test match. He took the lead in attack because of his incredible spin.
It could be argued that Kuldeep sent the usual instructions to dismiss Duckett immediately after, but he also adopted tactics that made his bowling wider and fuller and forced him to reach out and bat. Selected. Kuldeep also dragged Ben Stokes and took Google away to embarrass him.
He bowled on Saturday, conceding just 35 runs in 12 overs, and his two wickets do not suggest he was troubling his rivals. It was Siraj’s show as Quickie posted his best home numbers since then. Before the Test, Siraj had a Test average of 31.85 and a strike rate of 60, although he had not made much of an impact at home in India. He has taken just one wicket in his last seven innings at home, making it his fifth successive wicketless innings. The argument against him was that he didn’t move the old ball enough.
Saturday morning, Siraj turned the ball around and, along with Kuldeep, ensured England’s scoring rate came down. After conceding 18 in six overs in the morning, Siraj started with Ben Foakes playing straight to mid-on and returned to take three wickets in three overs. He then picked up Rehan Ahmed with a lovely yorker, repeated his dismissal of James Anderson at Lord’s in 2021, and disrupted his off-form with India’s dismissal of England for 319.
Siraj bowled 21.1 overs in the innings, the first time he has bowled more than 15 overs at home, showing once again why he is the best player despite adversity. This was his first innings in the 2020 Legendary Australian Series-21, which drew attention as the debutant played a starring role in the series win for his struggling Indian team.
In between there were Bumrah and Jadeja. Bumrah again took the vital wicket of Joe Root and Jadeja handed India the vital scalp of Ben Stokes, sparking a dramatic collapse. They were always expected to take on that task, but it was encouraging to see several players not in the starting lineup sidelined them before the series began.
India’s reaction on the third day was also talked about. Their backs were against the wall and they were active in all departments. The fielders also jumped in and made good catches. Rohit Sharma made some bold field placements and used his bowlers wisely while keeping the big picture in mind. Bumrah and Kuldeep bowled till the drinks break in the first session, scoring 45 in 14 overs. While Siraj came on after the break from Bumrah’s end, Kuldeep continued and bowled 12 balls on the trot.
After lunch, Rohit started with Siraj but was given the ball in reserve instead of increasing the burden on Bumrah, who had bowled 72.5 overs in the Test series. In contrast, Jadeja admitted that he is not fully fit, but he has bowled the fewest overs (10) of the available bowlers and has bowled 6 of his overs only once. It was just that.
Shiraj later revealed how each bowler was given responsibility: We knew our opponent was going to attack us, so we talked about trying to stick together even though we knew we were going to make a mistake. We didn’t plan much and waited for them to make mistakes. ”
The third day of a Test match is often referred to as the ‘travel day’, and events largely determine how the rest of the match unfolds. In Rajkot, India exceeded expectations and put up a brave performance to take control of the match which had been drifting. Doing it with 10 other guys made it even more remarkable.
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