RAJKOT: It had been 14 overs since the start of play on Saturday at the Niranjan Shah Stadium. For the first time in the day, Mohammed Siraj was marking his run-up.
At this point, England 40 runs to the overnight total of 207/2, but it had come at a cost — both Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow were back in the dressing room. A cost, that many would say they could have avoided.
Root, as he has a lot since Brendon McCullum took over as head coach, went for one of his reverse scoops, this time, against Jasprit Bumrah. The end result, a leading edge ended in the hands of Yashasvi Jaiswal in the slip cordon. A few balls later, Bairstow was caught on the backfoot against Kuldeep Yadav and was trapped on the pads. From starting the day with a bowler short — R Ashwin had to head home because of a family medical emergency — India had found a way to reestablish the fact that they still have four world-class bowlers.
Bumrah, from one end, and Kuldeep, from the other, constantly tested and troubled Ben Duckett and Root despite going for close to three runs an over. Bumrah had induced quite a few edges with his slower ones, and Kuldeep looked like getting a wicket every time England batters were trying to go on the backfoot or defend him. Such was the slowness of the surface that the edges didn’t carry and even if they were caught off guard, the batters had enough time to adjust and get to safety. And once they lost two quick wickets, Ben Stokes had come in and shut shop at one end. He was in his own zone, kept defending or leaving. It was not until his 27th ball, Stokes showed an intent to hit a boundary of a loose delivery from Kuldeep. He couldn’t connect that one but made up for it by tonking the spinner down the ground off the very next delivery.
Now, this is when Bumrah was given a break and Siraj was brought in. Until this point, Siraj has had a forgettable series, leave alone spell. In the first game, which was at his hometown, Siraj had gone wicketless. On this surface in Rajkot, without Ashwin, India needed Siraj to step up. The other three could not do the heavy lifting alone. However, up against a Stokes who had got his eye on, Siraj had little respite. He was flicked and pulled early on, and despite a rather lucky breakthrough for Kuldeep against Duckett (153), England coasted to safety at lunch (285/5).
When it seemed like Rohit would bring back Bumrah in the second session, he continued with Siraj, this time with a better plan. India had two short mid-wickets, a square leg and Rohit at a relatively shorter mid-on. The off-side field was not as packed and Siraj was running in, attacking the stumps in an attempt to make the batter play on the leg side. While there were a few leg byes, and shots through covers, India persisted as Ravindra Jadeja continued to bowl from the other end. The breakthrough came along as Stokes tried to take on Jadeja and was caught by Bumrah in the deep. But that wasn’t going to be enough. India needed more.
On the very next ball, Siraj’s seam up delivery held a little off the pitch, Ben Foakes was caught off-guard, pushing with hard hands. The end result, a simple catch for Rohit at shortish mid-on. Despite a few boundaries over the next couple of overs, Siraj continued to steam in. He seared in a yorker that crashed Rehan’s off-stump. Then came Dhruv Jurel’s first international dismissal as he stumped Tom Hartley off Jadeja. As it was the case at Lord’s in 2021, Siraj gave the finishing touch, cleaning up Anderson. From 207 for two at the start of the day, England were all out for 319 in a span of 36.1 overs with Siraj taking 4/84.
If anyone had told Rohit at the start of the day, the team without a spinner who have 500 Test wickets, the team that went for over five runs an over on day two, would dismiss England for 319 and secure a 126-run lead, he would have taken it with both hands. But the thing here is that, he and the bowlers made it happen. Even if Siraj or Kuldeep would have gotten the wickets they did, it would have been only a matter of time, for it seemed like there was a plan and one could see what they were trying to do — which hasn’t always been the case in this series.
"The balls was reversing and it didn’t seem like the ball was going to go to slips. The wicket was slow so the edge was not carrying. So I thought to bowl at stumps and focus on lbw as much as possible, that is why we had catching mid-wickets and square leg. And the way Foakes played that shot, what we thought happened," Siraj explained the plan after the day's play.
The job isn’t done though. Whatever lead they get from the second innings, these four men would have to turn up with a plan and dismiss England again. And Saturday would have given them the confidence to do that.
