CHENNAI: In the 70s whenever India won the toss, the stands at Chepauk used to be abuzz with a joke that the hosts were already 0 for 3. It implied that the team's fortunes depended heavily on Sunil Gavaskar and his brother-in-law GR Viswanath as spinners BS Bedi, BS Chandrasekhar and EAS Prasanna could not bat.
India have won three World Cups and played a lot of T20Is since then, but they still seem to have a long tail as far as red-ball cricket is concerned. And it came true on Saturday as India's tail comprising Axar Patel (5), Ishant Sharma (0), Kuldeep Yadav (0) and Mohammed Siraj (4) could manage only 9 runs among themselves. They failed to lend support to Rishabh Pant, who made an unbeaten 58 as the Virat Kohli and Co were eventually bundled out for 329, adding just 29 runs to the overnight score of 300.
The bowlers, however, compensated for their lack of show with the bat with some sterling performance with the ball. Ravichandran Ashwin (5/43) registered his 29th five-wicket haul and became the first bowler to dismiss 200 left-handed batsmen as the visitors were bowled out for 134 giving India a lead of 195.
"It was a splendid show by our spinners in particular Ashwin. Debutant Axar too bowled tight lines thus maintaining pressure at one end to support Ashwin. They used the conditions and surface well,'' said former India spinner M Venkataramana and personal coach of Ashwin at his club MRC 'A' in the TNCA league.
"On a surface that helps spinners, Ashwin was spot on with his variations and angles,'' added the former NCA bowling coach. Ashwin after returning from Australia quickly adjusted to the Indian conditions and also had a five-for in the first Test against England that India lost.
"He is an intelligent bowler who knows how to adapt to different conditions. In Australia, he bowled different lines and lengths keeping in mind the surface and the batsmen. Here in India, he did not try anything big or different. He stuck to his basics and deceived most of the English batsmen with his off-breaks,'' pointed out Venkataramana, adding that Ashwin worked on his fitness during the lockdown. Skipper Kohli too shuffled his bowlers well and did not allow any partnership to flourish. As many as 15 wickets fell on the second day and it will interesting to see when India declare on Day 3 and what target they set for England to chase.