RAJKOT: Possibilities of a result shrinking after England took two sessions to take six wickets and India failed to make inroads, the inaugural Test at SCA Stadium appears headed for an unexciting finish. There were hopes of final-day frills after the way things unfolded over the first three days. But with the hosts crawling up to 49 runs of England’s 537, and leaving little time to build a lead safe enough to declare, chances of a checkmate aren’t much higher than unseasonal rain in Rajkot.
If lack of erosion on the pitch, expected after over 300 overs of play, explains a part of the story, England playing safe and India playing their cards as well as they could have under the circumstances are the other constituents. By not having more men catching despite a heavy deposit of runs, Alastair Cook allowed batsmen to breathe free before they had settled down. And after critical wickets early on Day 4, Ravichandran Ashwin’s shepherding of the tail made sure that the job started by Murali Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara didn’t meet an abrupt end.
“The pitch hasn’t deteriorated. There’s grass over there which has kept the surface from becoming loose. After conceding so many, India have done well to get close to the England total. Considering it’s the first Test of a big series, this is an even-par performance,” former India wicketkeeper Kiran More summed it up. That India had to earn their stripes to reach this position and work hard under adversity lends the effort a commendable look. There were long periods of struggle on Day 3. On Saturday too there was a time England thought they had a window.
With Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane dismissed within 10 overs of the start and arrears reading 176, it was match on. Ashwin’s resistance first with Wriddhiman Saha and then with a tail sans significant contributions meant England didn’t have enough overs to get closer to a position that could make declaration a safe option. Even though Cook and Haseeb Hameed snuffed out Indian hopes of a collapse, their team is still far from setting a target that can’t be chased on this pitch. This makes Ashwin’s 70 as important as the three-figure efforts seen earlier in the Test.
Vijay felt the Ashwin-Saha stand of 64 in 24.3 overs played a big part in completing what he started two evenings ago. “It’s been a few times now that this pair has bailed us out of tricky situations. The pitch isn’t getting better, so you never know what happens if we can put them under pressure on the final day,” said the opener of the innings that lasted 2.3 overs longer than England’s.
England leg-spinner Adil Rashid didn’t sound disappointed either. “The pitch wasn’t offering much and we knew that India’s 7, 8 and 9 can bat. There was no reason to take them lightly..” Limiting the opposition to moderate expectations is the plus India carry from four days of hard work.
atreyo@newindianexpress.com
Scoreboard
England 1st innings: 537.
India 1st innings (overnight 319/4) Kohli (hit wicket Rashid) 40, Rahane b Ansari 13, Ashwin c Ansari b Moeen 70, Saha c Bairstow b Moeen 35, Jadeja c Hameed b Rashid 12, Umesh c Stokes b Rashid 5, Shami (not out) 8. Extras (b 23, lb 2, w 1) 26. Total (all out; 162 overs) 488. Fall of wickets: 1-68, 2-277, 3-318, 4-319, 5-349, 6-361, 7-425, 8-449, 9-459. Bowling: Broad 29-9-78-1, Woakes 31-6-57-0, Moeen 31-7-85-2, Ansari 23-1-77-2, Rashid 31-1-114-4, Stokes 17-2-52-1.
England (2nd innings) Cook (not out) 46, Hameed (not out) 62. Extras (b 4, lb 1, nb 1) 6. Total (for no loss; 37 overs) 114. Bowling: Shami 6-1-12-0, Jadeja 10-1-33-0, Ashwin 10-2-32-0, Yadav 5-1-13-0, Mishra 6-0-19-0 (nb1)