England vs India, 2nd Test: Who Said What

The venue changed from Birmingham to London and the performance of the Indian team slid further down the hill. If the opening Test match of the series was close – the 31-run margin of victory suggests the second Test was a humiliation for Team India. They scored 237 runs after batting twice and lasted just a total of 82 overs. England once again proved how good a team it is at home and in these conditions.

Joe Root won the toss on day 2 and with the kind of environment around the decision to bowl first almost sealed the game in England’s favour. James Anderson, their most successful bowler ran through the Indian batting line-up with a five-wicket haul. In 35.2 overs the Indians were bowled out for 107.

When England walked out to bat on day 3, the sun was out and their middle order made the best of it, Chris Woakes and Jonny Bairstow set them up for an eventual chase worth 289 runs that they managed. Soon after the home team declared the rain returned again and the Indians were in trouble even without it.

The openers failed again, Murali Vijay bagged a pair, KL Rahul was back soon as well, Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara resisted for a bit but it was just a matter of time. Rahane edged one and Pujara had no answers to an inswinger from Stuart Broad. Struggling to even move Virat Kohli walked out to bat but was accounted for by the same bowler.

Anderson once again got into the act and wrapped up the lower order but credit must go to Ravichandran Ashwin and Hardik Pandya the two all-rounders in the team who made the English bowlers work hard. In the end, the Indians were bowled out for 130 and they lost the match by an innings and 159 runs to go 2-0 down in the series.

Indian captain Virat Kohli after the defeat said:

Not proud of the way we’ve played. First time in the last five Tests that we’ve been outplayed. We deserved to lose this game, the way we went about things. Can’t really think about conditions when you’re playing the game. You can’t sit and crib about these things.

Sometimes the rub of the green won’t go your way. Even when the ball’s doing a bit, you have to pitch it in the right areas. Their guys were relentless, they made us work for the runs. (On playing an extra spinner) Yeah looking back, I thought we got the combination wrong.

Talking about his injury, Kohli said: “I should be fine. Lower back issue, I’m confident I’ll be fine in five days time with a bit of rehab.”

Joe Root after the victory said:

The bowling unit were exceptional throughout. We had the conditions in our favour, but we had to put it in the right places. Jonny and Woakesy were magnificent. Really pleased for Woakesy. A number of times he’s showed how talented he is. He’s been working hard. Coming back into the side, someone who’s always been a big part of the side. Good to see.

Ultimately it was about doing the same things again and again. We’re in a nice position. I thought he (Ollie Pope) played really well. To come in and put pressure on the opposition in a tough batting period was good. We’ve got another day to rest and recover and get our heads around what we’ve done this week. We still haven’t played our best game. There’s room to improve and that’s the most exciting part for us.

Chris Woakes, the Man of the Match said:

Delighted. I suppose to win the Test match inside four days when you lose a day and half to rain is special. Scoring a hundred and getting on the honour’s board is something that’ll stay with me a lot. It’s sinking in more. I wish I’d soaked it in a little more. But like I said, I was a bit nervous out there yesterday. Jonny calmed me down, which is funny, it’s usually the other way around. We just looked to tick it off in fives. Once we got through the tough part, we started scoring freely.

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