Rank turner: the two words that were on everyone’s lips ever since the Vizag curator promised to shave the grass off the pitch three days prior to the match. The lovely seaside town of Visakhapatnam has always produced spin-friendly wickets – the last example of which was the fifth One-Day International between India and New Zealand last month, when the tourists were bowled out for 79. Hosting its first ever Test match, and after Indian captain Virat Kohli expressed his surprise with the lack of turn offered by the surface in Rajkot for the first Test.
As the covers were taken off the track in Vizag on the eve of the Test, it was confirmed. The pitch looked flat, but moist enough to ensure it will crumble very soon. Curator Kasturi Ram had said it will be a neutral surface that will start to turn from day two. But as Virat Kohli won the toss and lost no time in opting to bat first, he would have known the cracks could start opening up as soon as the first day’s afternoon and his batters would have to ensure they put on at least 350 on the board.
While India gave a debut to off-spinner Jayant Yadav and drafted the fit-again KL Rahul into their XI, in place of Amit Mishra and Gautam Gambhir respectively, England made just one change in sync with what skipper Alastair Cook called their “rotation policy”: James Anderson, declared fit after a long hiatus, was coming in for Chris Woakes, who had bowled quite well in Rajkot. Like the first Test, both teams were playing three spinners.
Anderson started the proceedings, along with his reliable seam-bowling partner Stuart Broad. And no one seemed to have told them that it was a rank turner as they sent both Indian openers back within minutes of the start. Rahul was set up brilliantly by Broad, who bowled a relentless and accurate fifth-stump line before eventually drawing the right-hander into poking at him. Ben Stokes made no mistake in the slips. Vijay cracked a few delightful boundaries and was looking in great touch, before Anderson got one to bounce unexpectedly and clipped the batsman’s glove. The ball popped up in the air and Stokes was there again to pouch it at gully.
India 22/2. Anderson and Broad the wicket-takers. And remember, this was not the cloudy and seam-friendly United Kingdom. This was supposed to be a rank turner. The home crowd, mainly school children, was silenced in less than 30 minutes of the start of play. This was not how it was supposed to be.
India were in danger of collapsing, but thankfully for the hosts, Cheteshwar Pujara and Kohli were less generous compared to their dismissed teammates. With some confident strokeplay, they showed that there were no demons on the pitch yet. Some tragicomic running between the wickets almost resulted in Pujara being run out thrice in the second hour, which took away from an otherwise solid partnership. The two batters are looking well set and India need a big partnership out of them. On a pitch that is bound to make scoring runs difficult as the game progresses, a run out is a sin India cannot afford to commit, especially after winning the toss.
Brief score:
India 92/2 (Cheteshwar Pujara 37*, Virat Kohli 35*; James Anderson 1/19, Stuart Broad 1/21) vs England.
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