Recent Match Report – India vs England, England tour of India, 3rd Test،
India 326 for 5 (Rohit 131, Jadeja 110*, Sarfaraz 62, Wood 3-69) against England
On the first day of the third Test, the Indian batters finally came together, but not without an early warning. Down to 33 for 3 on a pitch full of runs and with two debutants to follow, India were looking at possible trouble. But a partnership of 204 between Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja for the fourth wicket – India's first century stand of the series – took them to 326 for 5 at stumps. Rohit and Jadeja had centuries while Sarfaraz Khan made a sparkling debut, hitting 62 off 66, before running out.
It was the first time India had faced two debutants in their top seven since their first Test in 1932, and the first time since 1999 they had three players in the top seven who had played fewer than two Tests. With that in mind, Mark Wood gave England a boost by getting rid of Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill – India's only centurions in this series before Thursday – with the new ball. Gill, in particular, collected a ball that tipped and then moved away, which took the outside edge. These two scalps doubled Wood's tally of wickets in the first six overs of a Test innings.
The morning humidity that had helped Wood may have helped Tom Hartley grab one in his ninth over, which put Rajat Patidar ahead. A day before the Test, Jadeja had said that England were not a difficult team to beat. The team management asked him to come out and demonstrate it from No. 5 in the ninth, the second earliest he came in to bat in a Test innings and the earliest in the first innings.
A promotion to Jadeja had a double meaning: protecting debutant Sarfaraz and also introducing a left-handed hitter. Perhaps coming back from the first time he missed a Test due to a hamstring injury and having to deal with a family dispute made public, Jadeja would have been excused for having a lot on his mind when he joined Rohit, but he batted with the freest spirit: simply reacting to the next ball in the old school way.
Rohit, who had a flying start, had to do some unconventional things at the start of the partnership. Wood tried to bounce it with fine leg, deep square leg back and deep square leg forward. For once, given the score and the situation, he decided not to hang and had to wear one in the grille of his helmet. He tasked James Anderson with reducing the move, on one occasion cutting one just out of reach. With Hartley, he played in the air and against the turn. The first attempt brought four, the second an edge to slip, which Joe Root dropped.
Rohit will say it was just the luck he needed after no luck in the first two Tests. By this time the first movement had begun to die down. Right after that ill-fated shot from Anderson, Rohit came back to hit him through extra cover for four, a definite sign that he was in.
Jadeja has never looked less than inside. The two took India to lunch without any further difficulty. Just after lunch, Rohit became the 14th man in this series to hit a six. The added responsibility of being the leader of an inexperienced line-up had spoiled his approach a bit, but now however, we saw the usual Rohit. There were some timely lofts, a few paddle sweeps and lots of backfoot running. His second six took him ahead of MS Dhoni's 78, with Virender Sehwag the only Indian ahead of him.
Once there were spins from both ends, Jadeja also started to make up ground, hitting a six in the final over of the middle session, the first wicketless session of the series. Immediately after tea, Rohit brought up his 11th hundred with two easy couples off two short balls from Rehan Ahmed. For a long time, team management would have hoped that hitters would not take risks and simply take advantage of the inevitable loose balls that the inexperienced spin attack was bound to produce. Kind of like how Rohit talked about his hundred.
It was now happening with ease, especially for Jadeja. England had to get back into Wood's rhythm. A top edge from Jadeja cleared long leg, which was 20 yards from the fence. Rohit was receiving gifts from Rehan. Fifty runs came in 11 overs after tea without breaking a sweat. Then Rohit pulled one back off Wood which probably wasn't short enough to pull. He slipped, got big on him and was caught at mid-wicket.
Sarfaraz came out with whispers already surrounding his game against short-range fast bowling. The fact that Wood started with a deep, fine third, two men deep on the hook, short leg and square leg forward suggested this was no mere whisper. Around the wicket, he went for Sarfaraz to bounce. He nonchalantly dodged the first three. Towards the end of his spell, Wood insisted that we start again. Sarfaraz ducked again before knocking the surprise yorker to the ground.
With pace out of the way, Sarfaraz displayed remarkable skill against spin, aided no doubt by Ben Stokes' attacking fielding. A series of one-twos followed: a loft over the infield followed by a drive deep into the crease to remove a single on the seemingly inevitable shorter delivery. The feet moved perfectly according to the trajectory of the ball, the sweep was early and the ground lofts were perfectly executed. Before we knew it, Sarfaraz had a fifty off 48, the second-fastest for an Indian debutant.
Another side game had begun to develop. Jadeja was stuck in the 80s and 90s. While Sarfaraz scored 50, Jadeja had only 12. He had three hundreds, but four dismissals between 80 and 99. He almost became passive. If Hartley had rewatched his heavy cry against Jadeja, he would have had him out first on 93.
Finally, on 99, Jadeja called Sarfaraz for an impossible single and dismissed him unsuccessfully. Looking at India still leaving the door ajar, Rohit threw his cap in disgust in the locker room. Jadeja made it to the ball for the next hundred, but the celebrations were subdued as Sarfaraz had gone only one delivery before. Jadeja knew there was still work to do on day two, returning unbeaten on 110 with Kuldeep Yadav by her side.
