Boria Majumdar at Lord’s
When did we last watch a day of conventional Test cricket in England? A day when the scoring rate kept hovering around three runs an over. It was anything but Bazball, and India, may I say, forced this reaction out of England after the Edgbaston miracle.
After winning the toss, Ben Stokes decided to bat, which in a sense went against the ethos of this England team. India came out strong, and at no point did they give easy runs. Jasprit Bumrah, as usual, kept beating the bat and both Akash Deep and Mohammed Siraj too found disciplined lines. Zak Crawley’s efforts to hit his way out of trouble yielded nothing, though England somehow survived the first hour.
In an inspired piece of captaincy, Shubman Gill went to Nitish Kumar Reddy straight after the drinks break, and the all-rounder justified the call with two wickets in the very first over he bowled. The second-wicket ball was a real beauty and reminded us of Jacques Kallis. Reddy kept finding swing, and had Joe Root and Ollie Pope in all sorts of trouble to justify his inclusion. In fact, India were unlucky to not pick up one more before lunch in what was a shared first session.
Just when it seemed that England would take control, India’s bowlers summoned up immense discipline and heart. Despite no wickets in the second session, only 70 runs were conceded, and it was more a game of attrition. The fans were getting a little restless for they aren’t used to seeing England go slow like this, and it was evidence of how England were willing to adapt and play to the situation.
The final session produced the breakthrough straight away, through Ravindra Jadeja, and thereafter Bumrah cleaned up Harry Brook with a beauty. While Stokes and Root were both steady, India will believe they are very much in it, and just a wicket or two away from a quick wrap.
In front of Sachin Tendulkar, who rang the bell and whose portrait was unveiled, it was more a throwback to his times as a Test match batter. Two teams who aren’t ready to give much to each other engaged in hard combat. With the new ball in India’s hands, it will be no different tomorrow morning.
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