Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Shami and Mohammad Siraj were left high and dry — the conditions were just right for them to lead an almighty assault on the England batting line-up in the second innings after taking a 95-run lead. But they will have to wait.
However, before that, the trio played its part with the bat as India made a moderate lead look way more menacing on a pitch that is not very easy to bat on.
India were 232-8, 49 ahead of England’s first innings total when Ravindra Jadeja (56) got out after his typically gutsy effort. And it was the next 46 runs, scored by Shami (13), Bumrah (28) and Siraj (7) that helped India stretch the lead and leave England in a tricky corner.
While Shami was just swinging his bat around, Bumrah showed an element of composure in his batting that we haven’t seen before. A pulled six off Ollie Robinson (5-85) showed the significant improvement that he has made in his batting. Bumrah was the last man to be dismissed trying to go for another big hit, but he had already done the damage.
But before the tail did more than what was expected of it, Rahul and Jadeja helped India go past England’s first-innings score of 183. Rahul (84), included at the last moment in place of an injured Mayank Agarwal, showed the temperament that an opener needs to have to survive in Test cricket away from India. His looked to play inside the line and seemed to have a fair idea of where his offtsump is. Even when he was getting beaten outside the offstump by the moving ball, the bowler didn’t find the edge too often, a significant improvement from 2018, when he was virtually a sitting duck for the English swing bowlers.
Rahul, though, had a couple of lives and the second at 78 presented by Joe Root off Jimmy Anderson just after lunch should have proved more costly for England.
Anderson (4/54), too, looked distraught but the legend kept attacking the fourth stump, something that he has done wonderfully for so long. He was finally rewarded when he induced the nick off Rahul and that brought about his 620th Test wicket that helped him go past Anil Kumble’s mark.
After Rahul was dismissed, it was down to Jadeja, included ahead of R Ashwin because of his batting skills, to take the battle to the opposition. The left-hander was ready to take the aerial route for anything that was pitched full while for the short ones, the hook and the pull were out of the bag. Of course, there were times when he could get out, but Jadeja didn’t take a backward step and went past the half-century mark.
And then it was over to the tail to inflict more damage on England before the weather gods took over.