HYDERABAD: The first five Indian wickets to fall suggested how below-par England were with the ball. Rohit Sharma, Shreyas Iyer, and KL Rahul were out trying to hit sixes. Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill were dismissed going for boundaries. Compare that to what happened when England were batting on Thursday. The tourists lost three of the first five wickets to defensive shots.
In a nutshell, this is the difference between the two teams after the first two days of the first Test at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium in Hyderabad. India's spinners hit the right lengths, bowled more wicket-taking deliveries, and allowed the natural variation to do its thing. They also utilised the help available off the surface.
England's spinners, perhaps understandably, have been very inconsistent in their line and length. One of them had not bowled in this format. Another had played one Test.
The most experienced member of the quartet, Jack Leach, was only coming back from a back stress fracture. He's also nursing a knee injury after banging it twice in the outfield. The fourth, Joe Root, looked the most threatening but came into the attack very late in the piece.
This might sound post-facto, but the tourists may have erred in not playing James Anderson for one of Rehan Ahmed or Tom Hartley. Anderson may not have gotten wickets, but what he does guarantee is control. In that 2021 series, Anderson's economy of 1.92 was one of the best by a pacer on Indian soil in the last 25 years.
It wasn't hard to miss the 41-year-old going through an extended practice session during the lunch break (perhaps he was sending a message to the team management). Like clockwork, he was hitting the top of off.
Either side of lunch, the English bowlers weren't as disciplined. That has been the main problem for them. They didn't beat the bat often enough and kept bowling the boundary balls, like gifts that kept on giving.
When the scoring rate finally dropped below four an over in the last session, it was a product of the hosts deciding to prioritise slow consolidation rather than the tourists building a semblance of pressure.
Of course, this isn't on Hartley or Ahmed.
They cannot be blamed for England's threadbare spin bowling resources (the pair conceded 3/236 in 48 overs with just three maidens). But what they could have controlled was stringing together a series of deliveries in the same spot.
There may not be many demons in the surface—it's a touch on the slower side and has remained steady barring the odd ball—but a failure to adhere to the basics has cost them dear.
The pitch was a harmless water snake today, but R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, and Axar Patel will know there is enough in it to make it poisonous in the third innings.
The last three balls on Friday rammed home this point. It saw Axar flex his muscles as he hit Hartley for 14 runs between mid-wicket and long on. Out of the 236 runs the duo have conceded so far, 148 have come in boundaries (25 fours and eight sixes). If you want to be a touch harsh, it was Hartley and Ahmed bowling the same balls again and again and hoping for a different outcome.
There is an element of learning-on-the-job, but at this level, the margins are brutal. One could also argue that the decision to open and persist with Hartley was wrong.
Anil Kumble, when he was on air for the broadcaster, had touched upon it. "They are not consistent at all on a surface where it's assisting you a bit," he had noted on Thursday night.
"We saw that with the Indian spinners. As soon as they bowled a good length, it was turning, so they got the lengths wrong. And then, when you want to spin, first, is confidence. Hartley is playing his first game; Leach hasn't really played in a while, and then he's coming in."
Thanks to the visitors' largesse and generosity, the hosts have already built an imposing lead of 175 with three more wickets in the bank.
Less than 180 overs into the series, Rohit Sharma & Co. look odds-on to win the opening Test. If England hope to prevent it, Bazball ought to have not one but two of its best days yet.
