India’s 74th Republic Day seemed to be a great day at field for Indian batters who carried their advantage from Day 1 to the end of Day 2 enthralling the packed house in Hyderabad. India at the end of Day 2 stands at 421 for 7 on the back of stellar KL Rahul’s 86 runs ably supported by Ravindra Jadeja’s stoic 81 not out with a clear 175 runs lead over England who managed only 246 runs in their first innings .
With the pitch starting to offer substantial spin for spinners any further lead on Day 3 means India now holds the firm grip over the first test against England knowing the quality of spinners India have in the ranks.
As continued from Day 1 , where Yashaswi Jaiswal’s enthralling 76 not out of just 70 balls carried India to 119 for loss of 1 wicket in 23 overs, 127 runs adrift the England score in 1st Innings , Day 2 started on the note only to wonder how much Team India will muster or take a lead over England’s relatively inexperienced bowling attack to garnered early advantage in the Test match.
Morning Session – 27 overs 103 runs 2 wickets. KL Rahul unbeaten 55 carries India to 222 for 3 at lunch.
As the day started India were 127 runs behind England’s total and all eyes were at Yashaswi Jaiswal who had batted brilliantly overnight to remain not out on 76 and Shubman Gill unbeaten on 14 to start the proceedings for India. Everyone were expecting the likes of Mark Wood to start from one end but England Captain Ben Stokes threw a surprise in form of Joe Root who started round the wicket with slip and First slip in place.
This move worked as a miracle in England’s favour as Root saw Jaiswal’s back on the fourth ball of the day having him caught and bowled on his own bowling . Young Jaiswal had to depart for entertaining 80 runs of 74 balls which included 10 fours and 3 sixes. India were 124 for 2 with new No 4 KL Rahul on the crease ahead of Shreyas Iyer. KL Rahul on the back of magnificent test series in South Africa entered the ground with lots of expectations on him but got the reprieve on first ball itself when Ben Foakes dropped him .
Root, who didn’t bowl yesterday, started proceedings today and he removed the dangerous Jaiswal in the very first over. He almost had KL Rahul off the very next ball but Foakes dropped a tough chance (which was given as byes by the umpire). The Indian No. 4 didn’t put a foot wrong after that. He kept the scoreboard ticking and countered the spinners comfortably. Gill, however, went into a shell. When he tried to play an aggressive shot, he picked out midwicket to become Hartley’s maiden Test victim.
On the arrival of Shreyas Iyer, Stokes introduced Wood. The lone England pacer troubled Shreyas but the Mumbaikar survived that spell and has looked quite good against the tweakers. India are in a good position with 103 runs added in a session and their aim will be to bat big and probably bat England out of this contest after the play resumes post Lunch.
Tea Session – 26 overs 87 runs 2 wickets. KL Rahul’s elegant 86 runs and Ravindra Jadeja’s resolute 45 not out carries India to 309 for 5 at Tea.
Post resumption from lunch, Iyer fell immediately after mistiming one to find the fielder in the deep but Rahul took a liking to Rehan Ahmed’s bowling to smash him around for a couple of fours and a couple of sixes in successive overs to give India the lead. All rounder Ravindra Jadeja promoted ahead of KS Bharat , then got going by punishing a full toss from Joe Root straight down the ground for a boundary before taking full toll of a half-tracker from Rehan.
Jadeja also ensured that Jack Leach didn’t get to settle in immediately after being introduced into the attack by hammering him over mid wicket for his first six of the innings. At the other end, Rahul fell against the run of play after looking well on course to bringing up another century. Like Iyer, he too managed to find the fielder at the deep to fall 14 short of a ton. KL Rahul batted brilliantly for his 86 runs of 123 balls and more importantly stitched a brisk 65 run stand with Jadeja .
KL became the fifth Indian batter to get out playing an aggressive stroke as he pulled a half-tracker from Hartley straight to deep midwicket giving Tom Hartley his second test wicket. Post that, Jadeja and Bharat batted conservatively and ensured that there were no further setbacks in the session. While the left-hander has been solid, the latter has looked a bit tentative. India were 63 runs ahead and with 5 wickets in hand, they had eyes set on the pretty big lead.
Post Tea Session – 34 overs 112 runs 2 wickets. Ravindra Jadeja’s emphatic 81 not out takes India’s lead to 175 at end of DAY 2 As India ends at 421 for 7.
One more wicket at that stage could have helped England limit the damage but a determined Bharat hung on alongside Jadeja to extend India’s advantage. The duo frustrated England for a substantial period of time, guiding the lead beyond the 100-run mark. Taking the new ball finally worked for England but it was Root who came up with the breakthrough as England persisted with spin despite choosing to bowl with the brand new cherry.
Bharat was trapped lbw for 41 by Root and a mix-up saw R Ashwin and Jadeja get stranded at the same end, only for the former to lose his wicket.
Despite the two quick wickets, England couldn’t cash in and run through the tail as Axar joined forces with Jadeja to pile on the misery. The two batters guided India’s total beyond 400 and then went into a shell right towards the end of the day’s play before Axar exploded to smash 4,6,4 off the final three balls of the day to rubber-stamp India’s dominance. Ravindra Jadeja who has a special liking for England’s team remains unbeaten 81 and other All rounder Axar Patel remains unbeaten on 35 making it India’s Day with a lead of 175 runs.
All the English bowlers were taken to cleaners with Joe Root being their main shining arc having captured 2 wickets while Tom Hartley and Rehan Ahmed has been taken to cleaners by Indian batters scoring 131 and 105 runs of their respective overs.
Day 3 and how it Looks
Day 2 was India’s day by all means having ended day on 421 for 7 .Eight of their nine batters got starts, three of them got to 80s, with one of them still unbeaten and there were five half-century partnerships. Nothing went right for England team who now going forward in the test match faces a huge task to bowl India out first and then bat on a turning track which will help the experience Indian spin trio of Ashwin Jadeja and Axar in a far better manner to take 1-0 lead heading to Vishakhapatnam for the 2nd match of the series.