India continued to have a vice-like grip on the proceedings in the final Test of the five-match series against England. At stumps on the second day, the home side were 473 for 8, in front by 258. Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill both scored hundreds.
In very good conditions for batting, the duo of Rohit and Gill put on an exemplary show of batting. Lofts, pulls, sweeps, drives or punches – You name a shot, and they played it. Rohit also showcased some very good shot selection while facing short deliveries from Mark Wood.
He reached his second ton of the series in the 62nd over. The very next over, Gill completed his second hundred of the rubber as well. Remember, Gill was under all kinds of pressure after failing in his first three innings of the series. Since then, he has put on crucial performances in every single Test match.
There was respite for England after lunch, when Ben Stokes, bowling for the first time in the series, cleaned up Rohit with a peach. James Anderson then castled Gill with a reverse-swinging delivery. That turned out to be one of the few phases of the Test when England seemed to have some kind of momentum.
Anderson, who for the first time in the series generated consistent reverse swing, could have had Devdutt Padikkal too. However, England didn’t have a second slip and an edge went through the vacant slip region. Stokes also dropped a caught-and-bowled chance offered by Sarfaraz Khan off what was subsequently called a no-ball. Sarfaraz then opened his shoulders by essaying eye-catching sweep shots and even ramped and pulled Wood. Padikkal, on his Test debut, also played sublime drives. Both the batters reached their respective fifties before falling to Shoaib Bashir.
Bashir and Tom Hartley combined to leave India eight down. Kuldeep Yadav, who has been a thorn in England’s flesh with both the bat and ball, and Jasprit Bumrah then frustrated England further with an unbeaten 45-runs stand. On the stroke of stumps, Kuldeep could have become Bashir’s fifth victim, but Stokes dropped a chance. In fact, the ball was going straight into the hands of the first-slip fielder, but Stokes dived across and put it down. Incidentally, England have dropped enough chances right through the course of the five Tests.
In the eventual analysis, the telling difference between the two sides could come down to their respective batting efforts. In some really good conditions for batting, England could muster only 218. Kuldeep deserves a lot of credit for the collapse as he bagged a five-for.