By smashing Cook’s stumps in Vizag, Shami sent a clear message: India’s pacers are alive and kicking

India hosted a Test match for the first time at Visakhapatnam. With the inauguration of a new venue, a new facet to the Indian team was inaugurated too.

The result was routine – a convincing victory in a home Test. The manner was expected too – with the spinners ruling the roost. But there were hidden protagonists – the pacers.

These are the kind of heroes India had yearned for since a while. They are the kind the Indian team had not had the luxury of unleashing on the opponents in home conditions for a while.

The Vizag pitch was typically Indian. It was a surface the spinners dream of. It was, in fact, a wicket on which the pacers would have been expected to be an audience more than have a role in the team’s triumph – especially with the hosts fielding three spinners. The wickets’ column may even suggest that so was the case.

Unsung heroes

But the Indian pacers were unsung heroes. England may have capitulated to the spin of Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Jayant Yadav in the match, but Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav broke England’s backs.

Shami was the lead. Umesh Yadav was the perfect supporting lead. And the duo together reminded England that India at home is not about spin alone.

England had to chase 405 in close to 150 overs. Even on a wicket with ugly cracks, and the subsequent uneven bounce and atrocious turn, the success of the chase remained a possibility.

But it took Shami just four balls to land the visitors’ hopes the first blow. He banged a ball in short at the visiting team’s promising opening talent Haseeb Hameed. The pace of his delivery surprised the young English batsman. He took his eyes off the ball. And, boom. The ball crashed into his top glove. It hurt Hameed. It hurt England.

It was a blow from which England almost never recovered. They had not lost a wicket. But they then appeared to have lost whatever little belief they carried of challenging India’s target.

With victory not on England’s mind, they crawled. The tourists played as if they were confident of blocking India out of the contest. But on a fifth day Indian wicket, against the turning ball, they were only digging their own grave. And Shami then pushed them in it.

Playing the mind games

When Shami’s deliveries would not threaten, his mind would. He had a chat with his captain, Virat Kohli, and moved the fine leg. The batsman expected a bouncer, Shami instead darted one in. Shami had beaten Joe Root outside off thrice already. The Indian pacer then yorked him, and bowled another one towards the pads. Just when the last ball was expected to be a bouncer, he swung the ball in at pace. It crashed into Root’s pads. It crashed England’s dream of surviving the Test.

While Umesh had been miserly and Shami had struck at critical junctures, the duo had set the tone for India’s eventual victory in the first innings itself. Their performance in the first dash had been the catalyst that enabled the spinners to sparkle.

“Shami has that extra skid that makes him dangerous with his reverse swing. He gets that extra zip off the pitch and he has good control over reverse swing, so that makes him dangerous in between when he comes for short spells because he can give those breakthroughs and the opposition also doesn’t really go after him that much,” Kohli noted.”So he’s a great bowler to have in the side just to get those crucial breakthroughs for the spinners to capitalise again.”

Usually, on Indian wickets not conducive for fast bowling, the pacers go through their motions. There is an evident lack of effort. But the Vizag Test was different. And the first innings was a refreshing change.

Cook leaves with a broken stump

England captain Alastair Cook’s wicket was the moment that signalled the start of a special spell from the Indian fast bowlers. A Shami delivery had the perfect seam position. It pitched on off-stump and shaped back to find its way in between the bat and pad. Cook’s off-stump had not just been disturbed, it had been demolished into two parts. It was fast, it was furious and it was violent.

That was the trend of the opening spell from the Indian pacers. For ten overs, Shami and Yadav steamed in as if this was the only spell they would be required to bowl. As if this was their last shot at glory.

The energy displayed by the pacers spread among the team. Captain Kohli was more animated than he usually is. He would often walk under the nose of the batsmen and cheer his bowlers on. The hosts had turned noisy, and their fast-bowling duo basked in its vibe.

It was not Perth or Durban. It was not even Mohali – India’s fastest pitch. It was the spin-friendly surface in Vizag, but both the pacers hit speeds of around 90 miles per hour on a consistent basis. If the delivery to dismiss Cook stunned the tourists, the fiery opening spell had pushed them on to the mat.

“The spell that him [Shami] and Umesh (Yadav) bowled yesterday with the new ball, both bowling 145-plus, was great to see,” appreciated Kohli.

England were 103/5 in their first innings at stumps on the second day. Their first innings threatened to implode. That is when Ben Stokes and Jonny Bairstow dug in and decided to be stubborn. They had almost played out the third day’s first session, when the Indian eyebrows began to raise. That is when Yadav decided to destroy any castles of hope the English would have developed.

The impact went beyond wickets

In the middle of another fiery spell, Yadav dispatched a full ball that reverse-swung in at pace. It hit Bairstow’s pads and then the stumps. It ended the in-form batsman’s stay at the crease. It also ended England’s only resistance in the first innings.

The Indian pacers struck on only four instances across the two innings, as compared to the 10 scalps their English counterparts managed. But the impact of the swing they found with the new ball and the reverse-swing with the old ball, at solid speeds, was unparalleled.

“To be honest, our bowlers got more off the pitch than their fast bowlers and that was something really pleasing to see as far as me being a captain is concerned. They bowled with pace,” Kohli explained.

The contribution of the Indian pacers in an Indian Test match triumph could not have been timed better. With Visakhapatnam conquered, Mohali is up next. If Umesh and Shami were asked to choose a strip to build their momentum on, the Punjab venue would beat all competition.

A new venue ushered in a revival of India’s pace attack. Now it is up to the venue traditionally known to support the pacers to continue India’s newfound charge.