In the end, Indians and English fans were celebrating together in the stands in Visakhapatnam. One team won and another lost, but for these spectators, it was four days of exciting cricket, where the home team prevailed due to some exceptional individual efforts. RevSportz lists the key factors…
Jaiswal’s precious double: Yashasvi Jaiswal’s double-century set India up. His 209 towered above the rest, with the next-highest being Shubman Gill’s 34. Almost all the batters got off to starts, no one else converted it into a big one. Had Jaiswal too got out for 30 or 40, India’s first-innings total would have been less than 250 instead of 396. In 11 Test innings, he has gone past 50 four times. In two of those, he made 177 and 209. Curiously, all his 50-plus scores have come in the first innings.
Bumrah’s magical burst: The pitch seemed innocuous when others bowled. When Jasprit Bumrah had the ball, he appeared to be bowling on a different surface. Rohit Sharma brought him back for a second burst as soon as Joe Root came to bat in the first innings. That was the beginning of a few short spells, which unhinged England in good batting conditions. The yorker which shattered the stumps of Ollie Pope will be remembered for a long time. And that will be injustice to the other deliveries in that spellbinding passage of play. He followed up that 6-45 with an equally impressive 3-46.
Gill delivers under pressure: The pressure on Gill was mounting and he might have also been gripped by the fear of failure. The youngster made the most important Test century of his life at a most opportune moment. India had to build on their lead of 143 runs to take the match beyond England. Like in the first innings, others got out after getting starts. Some did not even get starts. Gill, too, struggled in the beginning. After getting through that phase, he was sublime. Again, there were no other half-centuries, which underlined the value of this innings.
Fielding comes good: India’s fielders rose to the occasion when the bowlers needed them. The ground fielding was not as sharp as England’s, but the catching was top-class. Gill at first slip held two sharp chances off Bumrah in the first innings and another at mid-wicket off Kuldeep Yadav. Shreyas Iyer took an outstanding catch to send back a marauding Zak Crawley. He was at it again in the second innings, when he ran out Ben Stokes in brilliant fashion. These were key interventions, which tilted the balance in India’s favour. But for these performances, it could have been a closer affair.
Timely breakthroughs: Each time England looked like imposing themselves on the match, the home team struck. Crawley and Ben Duckett got the visitors off to brisk starts in both innings. But India broke the partnership before it assumed alarming proportions. Crawley and Stokes were sent back when they were threatening to cut loose. In the second innings, they got Duckett on the third evening to prevent England from starting Day 4 with 10 wickets in hand. Ollie Pope and Joe Root were dismissed when they were going berserk. Crawley, again, was dismissed in the 70s.