India skipper Shubman makes England pay with second consecutive century after Ben Stokes raises eyebrows by putting India in; opener Yashasvi Jaiswal scores 87 as visitors end Day One at 310-5 at Edgbaston
India skipper Shubman Gill en route his 114 not out on Day One of the second Test at Edgbaston, Birmingham, yesterday. Pic/Bipin Patel
England have unearthed a new template when it comes to Test cricket, a template heavily dependent on their formidable batting.
Ben Stokes’s men are on their way to elevating chasing to a fine art in the five-day format. Ever since he and Brendon McCullum came together at the head of the management group, they have taken the fear of batting fourth out of the equation, confident that the attacking resources at their disposal can hunt down any target.
England pacer Chris Woakes celebrates the wicket of KL Rahul yesterday. Pic/Getty Images
In the last three years alone, England have pulled off their two highest chases (378 and 371), both against India. It was, therefore, hardly a surprise that at Edgbaston on Wednesday, Stokes put an addled, confused India in for a second time in the series. Having batted themselves into promising positions, India were forced to rely on pugnacious skipper Shubman Gill (114 not out) and the phlegmatic Ravindra Jadeja (41 not out) to bail them out after courting trouble at 211 for five, some 45 minutes after tea. At stumps on Day One, India were 310-5.
India cover all bases
India rested Jasprit Bumrah and brought Akash Deep into the XI, one of two unsurprising changes — the other was Washington Sundar replacing Shardul Thakur. There was a third change, Nitish Kumar Reddy for Sai Sudharsan, suggesting that India were stacking the side with multiple all-round options to cover as many bases as possible rather than choosing the most positive tack when 0-1 down.
There was assistance for Chris Woakes and Brydon Carse first up on a blustery, cold morning with grey clouds hovering overhead. There was seam and lift, necessitating Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul to bat with caution. Jaiswal did play a couple of pleasing drives when Carse pitched the ball up, looking for non-existent swing, but Rahul was entirely becalmed and well ensconced in his shell.
Something had to give, and Rahul’s resistance ended 39 minutes into the day when he played a Woakes lifter that kept coming back into him on to his stumps. But Karun Nair, batting at No. 3 for the first time, and Jaiswal matched each other stroke for stroke and once the sun broke through and the juice from the pitch evaporated, batting became a lot easier.
Top-order woes
The two breezed to an 80-run stand when Carse produced a lifter just before lunch, having Karun caught at second slip off the splice. But like he had in the first Test, Gill was confidence personified, taking his time at the start and then playing handsome strokes on both sides of the wicket even as Jaiswal punished anything that was even remotely loose. Then followed a litany of errors from India’s top order. Jaiswal wafted at a loose delivery from Stokes to the wicketkeeper, while Rishabh Pant, who kept his attacking instincts in check, eventually lost patience and tonked Shoaib Bashir to long-off.
Brief scores
India 310-5 (S Gill 114*, Y Jaiswal 87, R Jadeja 41*, K Nair 31; C Woakes 2-59) v England
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