12 minutes before lunch, Rohit Sharma called upon Kuldeep Yadav for the first time on Day 4. 28 overs had been bowled by that time with England scoring 125 runs at over 5 runs per over, needing 207 runs more to win the 2nd Test match at Vizag. Zak Crawley batting on 73 off 132 looking in ominous touch. Jonny Bairstow on 26 off 32. Is Rohit Sharma under pressure despite setting a target of 398 in India?
You would think so.
England, after all, have won eight of their last 10 Tests in which they have been chasing a target. James Anderson said at the end of Day 3 they would go for the win even if the target was 600 in 70-odd overs. He would say India were not sure what kind of target was safe, hence their circumspect play in the final session on Day 3. England should have been under pressure chasing a record total, but it was India who were feeling the heat on a bright and sunny day.
Also Read: IND vs ENG 2nd Test Day 4 Highlights
Crawley added more to that pressure by walloping five boundaries in the first hour of play, moving from an overnight score of 29 to 73 in just 72 deliveries. He was looking in ominous touch and Rohit decided to take the gamble and get in Kuldeep just before lunch.
For the first three balls of the over, Kuldeep had floated it up and dragged the length back. Off the sixth, he went short, around leg-stump and Crawley went on the back foot to clip it away, He missed and got pinged on the front pad. It appeared to be turning sharply down the leg, and the on-field umpire did not raise his finger.
Rohit deliberated for a long time with the bowler and ‘keeper Srikar Bharat, both of whom have not been the best of judges when it comes to taking reviews. Yet, Rohit must have realized it was better to take the gamble against Crawley. And it worked.
Kuldeep broke away from the Indian huddle and ran towards fine leg screaming with his fist up in the air. His teammates would follow. That was the breakthrough India desperately needed and Kuldeep had given them that.
An over later, Jasprit Bumrah who was brought back for his second spell 30 minutes before lunch, would get to nip one back in leaving Jonny Bairstow’s bat and thudding onto the pads. The umpire would raise his finger and the decision would be upheld after England’s review. This time the celebration from the Indian huddle was not as animated as it was for Crawley wicket.
Even Bumrah’s initial celebration for the wicket was not the aggressive fist-pump action that we have witnessed in this series. With his hands aloft he looked skywards with a look of job well done. India’s worry of getting Bazballed again was slowly getting dispelled.
The double-strike just before lunch was the killer blow India needed to close out the game, the opening jab was delivered by one of India’s greatest match-winners of the modern era. Ravichandran Ashwin. In the first innings, Ashwin was as flat as he had ever been in his entire career in home conditions, going wicketless for only the sixth time in 183 innings he had bowled in India – the first time in nearly five years.
On the cusp of a huge personal milestone, Ashwin knew he had to step up and he did with the wicket of Ben Duckett the previous day.
And then on Day 4, amidst the Crawley Bazball, Ashwin got one to bounce more than what Ollie Pope would have hoped, putting the batter in two minds.
Pope ended up playing a cut shot to the one that was not that short, and the edge was instinctively plucked by Rohit at first slip. Ashwin had corrected his length from the first innings and with varying release points he was able to land the ball on areas of the pitch that got him bounce.
Pope had earlier missed a reverse sweep because of the extra bounce. Two overs, later, Joe Root with a dodgy finger had raced to 16 off just 10. Rohit brought the field in, inviting Root to take the aerial route.
Ashwin dragged his length back and slowed it up, shorter and around off. Root danced down the track and went for a hoick across the line but swung early and got a top edge; straight to Axar at short third. Wicket No.499 for jersey No.99.
Yet still, Ben Stokes – England’s miracle man – was in the middle and India would not have been at ease till the time he was in the middle. Post lunch, Bumrah managed to get the ball to move off the seam and beat Stokes’ bat often, but not enough to get the better of him. What got the better of him, surprisingly, was a direct hit from Shreyas Iyer, that caught him napping. Like in Hyderabad when Stokes produced a stunning direct hit to run out Ravindra Jadeja and end India’s hopes; Iyer’s direct hit had blown away England’s last glimmer of hope.
Ben Foakes and Tom Hartley would deny the inevitable till Bumrah produced another dash of magic, bowling a slower delivery to fox Foakes and took a good return catch. Foakes made 36.
Hartley continued to fight for a while longer for his 36 before being cleaned up by Bumrah. India eventually wrapped up the England innings before tea at 292 claiming victory by 106 runs.
Brief Scores: India 396 all out (Yashasvi Jaiswal 209, James Anderson 3/47) & 255 (Shubman Gill 104; Tom Hartley 4/77) beat England 253 (Zak Crawley 76; Jasprit Bumrah 6/45) & 292 (Zak Crawley 73; Jasprit Bumrah 3/46) by 106 runs
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