During the lunch break on the second day, Anil Kumble walked out with practice balls and stumps. He set up on the last practice wicket of the pitch square in the middle of the ground. And then he asked Hardik Pandya to bowl. For near 20 minutes, the Indian coach worked with the youngster who aspires to solve India’s long-standing problem.
When he was selected in this Test squad, it made amply clear the strides he had made under Rahul Dravid’s tutelage on the India A tour to Australia. It was an odd selection yes; on home pitches you do not expect a newbie medium pacer/untested first-class batsman to be included, when you have other full-time options available.
The general impression is that Pandya is not completely ready for Test cricket. But what transpired in this first Test against England since lunch on the second day, and then a little longer afterwards, probably inspired this rigorous workout Pandya enjoyed with Kumble. The team management – believing in his ability – want to fast track him. And the reason, well, is one name: Ben Stokes.
The enforcer
To start off with, his very inclusion in the playing eleven adds something to England. It is a quantity India do not boast of – an all rounder who provides that vital balance between bat and ball. Alastair Cook has six bowling options available to him, as he happily included three spinners with two full-time pacers. Stokes can work as the back-up pacer – someone who excels in reverse swing – when the need arises.
And then there is his batting prowess. Stokes was put down twice, on 60 and 61 in successive overs off Umesh Yadav. The general catching malaise had afflicted Wriddhiman Saha as well. For an otherwise good fielding side, it is easy to brush those catches aside as a rare occurrence, which is what assistant coach Sanjay Bangar did on the first day and Ravindra Jadeja said as much after the day’s play on Thursday.
A scorecard does not account for off-days in the field, though. It will instead tell you that Stokes scored 48 runs in a 99-run sixth wicket partnership with Jonathan Bairstow. It will say that until the lunch break, after Moeen Ali (117) got out, Stokes-Bairstow scored at 4.67 per over, thus helping his side garner 130 runs in the 30 overs of the morning session.
The scorecard will not however tell you that Stokes batted with a freedom not visible in England’s batting on the first day. Joe Root scored an excellent hundred, but he was sedate in his knock. Ali only played the back-up role too well. The need of the hour on day two was for an enforcer to take the game by the scruff of its neck, putting his side in an advantageous position. And Stokes did just that, in what could eventually prove to be a game-changing session.
The unpredictability about the toss
Rohit Sharma does that role for India, or at least that is what skipper Virat Kohli envisages him to do. If only Rohit – or anyone else for that matter – could bowl as well to go with that free-spirited hitting, medium pace or spin, anything. Just a consistent bowler who can back-up the first choice attack, acting as a buffer with both bat and ball. You can see now why Pandya is being advanced quickly.
Even so, at the earliest, he will not be available until the second Test in Visakhapatnam. And who is to say he will be ready for action against a very good team? Furthermore, rushing him into Test cricket could backfire as well and the last thing Kohli would want is pick his team in a reactionary manner (again). For, in an odd manner, it is what he did for this Test.
India over-compensated for England’s never-ending batting line-up by playing a five-bowler attack. And while it was the right call on a tough wicket, losing the toss backfired on them. “The toss took the game away from us. We all know how the Rajkot pitch is. For the first two days, it helps the batsmen. And then it slowly starts taking turn. We hope it will stay the same on day three as well,” said homeboy Jadeja.
Never mind the dropped chances, India cannot even complain after winning seven successive tosses at home against South Africa and New Zealand, for this is what sport is all about. You can plan all you want, but the unpredictable element eventually catches you off-guard at some point.
It happened on day one, and in their stupor, India have not been able to recover. Now, they face a mammoth task on day three to try and salvage this match. Any thought of a result – positive or negative – is out of question for the moment.
They have started well, 63/0 so far but still trail by 474 runs. They need 275 runs simply to avoid the follow-on. Now, here is the equation. Say it out loud – six full-time bowlers for England and five full-time batsmen for India.
The math is not complicated, especially on a still-easy pitch. Gautam Gambhir and Murali Vijay did well to counter five of their six bowlers until stumps.
On day three, Stokes will bowl at some point.
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