On a day when a dog stopped play, Kohli and Pujara may have had the last bark

Dog stops play.

That was how the early tea break – by four balls – was described. It was an odd sight, a stray animal stopping play by venturing onto the field of play, and refusing to leave despite the best efforts of the ground staff.

Even Stuart Broad tried his best to shoo the dog away, but it just would not relent. Those comical moments, lasting less than five minutes, encapsulated how day one of the second Test between India and England went by.

Session after session, Test cricket flows as a mighty battle between bat and ball, and Thursday was no different. Only the characters changed positions, between perseverance and dominance, from a gritty first session for the batsmen to a persistent last session for the bowlers. In between, there was a 226-run partnership that could have already changed the course of this match.

Brand new tyres

The first blow was landed at the toss itself. India won and promptly chose to bat. On a dry pitch, expected to turn square, there are not many other options especially when both sides bank on a total of six spinners. Oddly enough, not many deliveries turned sharply. Perhaps the one, where Moeen Ali used a Decision Review System review for a leg-before-wicket against Cheteshwar Pujara in the 40th over, spun the sharpest.

The behaviour of this pitch can be explained with a Formula One term. “Going over the cliff” is a phrase used when F1 cars lose performance in their tyres. Even the slowest cars (on new tyres) are able to catch the quickest ones on the grid (on older, over-the-cliff tyres) – such is the difference in performance.

This Visakhapatnam pitch, on day one, behaved like an F1 car on brand new tyres. When those tyres do go off – read “starts turning square” – the batsmen will dance until the sun goes down.

It puts into perspective England’s bowling with the new ball. On a pitch that did not aid their pacers, Broad and James Anderson reduced India to 22/2. KL Rahul realised the gap between Ranji and Test cricket quickly enough, but it was Murali Vijay’s dismissal that raised eyebrows. A short delivery, reared up enough to hit him on the gloves and looped up to gully – this pitch is filled with demons of bounce and turn.

The next partnership was pivotal. India only bat with five full-time batsmen and Ajinkya Rahane is not in the best form currently. The hosts had encountered a poor first session in Rajkot, and then chased the match through the five days. Pujara and Virat Kohli had other ideas, though.

Virat Kohli vs James Anderson

It was an immensely anticipated battle as Anderson bowled to Kohli. At that particular point in time, England were on top and India needed to play out the remaining session without losing a wicket. They just about managed to do that, never mind the three incidents of miscommunication between the two batsmen.

“We had a chat during lunch time, and didn’t miss many singles after that. I think the running was better in the second session,” said a sheepish Pujara after the day’s play.

He is not much at fault. This is a batsman who plays only one international format, which doesn’t demand him to charge like a bull. It asks him to drop anchor in tough situations though, like a cow that will chew its cud without any hurry.

Kohli, in contrast, is built like a racer, catering to the demands of modern-day One-Day International cricket and even Twenty20s for that matter. Their running between the wickets was akin to a Ferrari and Volkswagen van driving in parallel, trying to keep up with each other.

It was not pretty to watch, but it was effective. And the efficiency stepped up a notch afterwards, as if the van had been retrofitted with a turbo-engine during the lunch break. They ran well, scored boundaries at will, and Pujara even smacked a brilliant six, pulled into the stands off Zafar Ansari. 118 runs came in 28.2 overs after lunch, just before that dog decided it was time for tea.

This session hurt England, but they will not feel it just yet, for their legs would be sore from chasing leather all day. The imprint of this score, as India crossed 300 before stumps, would dawn when they come out to bat later on. When the pitch hits the “cliff”, and starts asking questions of batsmen’s technique against spin, then the true import of this partnership – and the pace at which they scored – will hit the English camp.

Bedding in for the long haul

Meanwhile, this stand was akin to the one Pujara had with Vijay in Rajkot. There, the opener played mellow and allowed his partner to score freely. Today, Pujara needed to play that role as Kohli played the aggressor. For, when is he not?

Yet, this was a controlled assault, as has become the norm in Test cricket for the Indian captain. It was not seen in the manner he caressed his boundaries, or ran in cruise mode during the last hour before stumps. It was instead seen in the manner he did not celebrate his hundred. Like in Indore against New Zealand, Kohli is bedded in for the long haul.

This is where England’s stubbornness with the ball shone through. They checked the scoring during the final session, thanks largely to Anderson dismissing Pujara. But the final blow, of sending back Rahane close to end of play, puts them right back in the game.

The second new ball is only two overs old, and the visitors will want to prevent Kohli batting them out of this game. “Under the lights, with some dew about, the second new ball swung a lot more than the first did in the morning. It is just two overs old, so we are hoping to get some movement tomorrow and get a few more wickets,” said Anderson.

It is imperative that they do so. Otherwise, England will be searching for that dog to stop play again.