Four is a necessity, five is a luxury. That’s been conventionally the case with India’s bowling attack, especially while playing at home. In the absence of one of the five — the 500-wicket man R. Ashwin who had to fly back home midway through the game due to a family medical emergency — the other four shouldered the burden.
Promising opener Yashasvi Jaiswal then opened his shoulders with panache to virtually bat England out of the game. On a day that was dominated by India all through the day, India had England on the mat at the end of the third day’s play at the Niranjan Shah Stadium.
Riding on the bowling quartet’s magic, led by Mohammed Siraj’s best bowling figures at home, India folded England’s first essay for 319, with the visitors managing to add 112 runs for the loss of eight wickets to their overnight total. Riding on Jaiswal and Shubman Gill jam before the opener had to retire due to backache, India finished the day at 196 for two. With a hefty lead of 322, India will hope to set a gargantuan target.
Jaiswal may have taken the fizz out of England’s attack with a charge that would have made even England head coach Brendon McCullum proud, but it was Siraj and Co. that seized the initiative for India in the first-half. Jasprit Bumrah and Kuldeep Yadav — who had been swept out of the attack by centurion Ben Duckett the previous evening — started the proceedings. And Joe Root’s attempted reverse-ramp off Bumrah only resulted in a sharp catch to Jaiswal at second slip in the fifth over.
In the next over, Kuldeep turned one in sharply to find Jonny Bairstow rooted in his crease for a blob. The wrist-spinner changed the tactics and stifled the run flow by bowling wide of off-stump with a spread-out field. He was finally rewarded when Duckett chased a real wide one and scooped it to covers.
At 260 for five, it was down to Ben Stokes, playing his 100th Test, and Foakes to keep England in the hunt.
But Ravindra Jadeja enticed Stokes into an error with the England captain skying one to long-on. That dismissal minutes after lunch triggered a collapse as England lost the last five wickets for just 20 runs.
With the ball having started reversing, Siraj used all his variations effectively to wind up the tail.
His perfect yorker to Rehan Ahmed and an incoming delivery that shattered James Anderson’s off-stump were a treat to watch as England wound up halfway into the day’s play.
Despite starting the second essay with twin boundaries off Anderson in the opening over, captain Rohit Sharma missed a sweep off Joe Root to be adjudged leg-before through DRS. Soon afterwards, Jaiswal changed gears when he had cruised to 35.
A 19-run over off Anderson started the charge and he followed it up with drives, slog-sweeps, lofted sixes and even two reverse-sweeps in a Rehan over that came straight out of England’s book.
When he was forced to return to the dressing room due to backache at the start of the 30-minute extension, soon after celebrating his second hundred of the series with a trademark jump, Rajat Patidar threw away his wicket for the second time in the match.
Scoreboard
India 1st Innings: 445
England 1st Innings (Overnight 207/2 in 35 overs, Duckett 133*, Root 9*) Zak Crawley c Patidar b Ashwin 15 Ben Duckett c Gill b Kuldeep 153 Ollie Pope lbw Siraj 39 Joe Root c Jaiswal b Bumrah 18 Jonny Bairstow lbw Kuldeep 0 Ben Stokes c Bumrah b Jadeja 41 Ben Foakes c Rohit b Siraj 13 Rehan Ahmed b Siraj 6 Tom Hartley st Jurel b Jadeja 9 Mark Wood not out 4 James Anderson b Siraj 1 Extras (B-6, LB-5, NB-4, PEN-5) 20
Total (all out in 71.1 overs) 319
Fall of Wickets: 1-89, 2-182, 3-224, 4-225, 5-260, 6-299, 7-299, 8-314, 9-314
Bowling: Jasprit Bumrah 15-1-54-1, Mohammed Siraj 21.1-2-84-4, Kuldeep Yadav 18-2-77-2, Ravichandran Ashwin 7-0-37-1, Ravindra Jadeja 10-0-51-2.
India 2nd Innings: Yashasvi Jaiswal retired hurt 104 Rohit Sharma lbw Root 19 Shubman Gill batting 65 Rajat Patidar c Rehan Ahmed b Hartley 0 Kuldeep Yadav batting 3 Extras: (LB-5) 5 Total: (For two wickets in 51 overs) 196 Fall of Wickets: 1-30, 1-185 (Jaiswal retired hurt), 2-191 Bowling: James Anderson 6-1-32-0, Joe Root 14-2-48-1, Tom Hartley 15-2-42-1, Mark Wood 8-0-38-0, Rehan Ahmed 8-0-31-0.
