India v England 5th Test, Day 2 - 5 Talking Points

Chepauk wicket has thus far been a featherbed. The batsmen have enjoyed scoring runs here though the outfield sometimes doesn’t support them for the best. England were dealt an early blow, a couple of them actually but the lower order, their two specialist spinners scored half centuries and made significant contribution to the team total. It was a tough day on the field for the Indians where for the first time their bowlers failed to dominate the visitors.

Both the Indian pacers Ishant Sharma and Umesh Yadav bowled with a lot of steam, executed their plans and got a couple of wickets each while Ravindra Jadeja had three and Ravi Ashwin and Amit Mishra shared one a piece. In their response the Indian opening pair of KL Rahul and Parthiv Patel got them off to a promising start they have already added over fifty runs together and look good to make it big. India will want to bat long, overhaul the total and grab a handy lead to take this Test towards a conclusive direction.

1. Liam Dawson’s debut fifty:

Liam Dawson was the third debutant for England in the five-match series. Despite making his way in as a left-arm spinner he continued the tradition the other two Haseeb Hameed and Keaton Jennings had laid and scored a half century. He walked in to bat after the wicket of Jos Buttler and had a partnership with Moeen Ali who scored a well crafted 146.

While the Indians believed they had an opening and looked to roll over the tail Dawson had yet another resilient stand with Rashid that not ensured the Indian bowlers didn’t run through. They scored important runs that took the team total over 450. Dawson looked very comfortable at the crease and got to his half century and scored 66 the highest score by and England debutant at No.7 or lower.

2. Adil Rashid chips in with a half ton:

Rashid who is Pakistan’s leading wicket-taker in the series had a crucial role to play with the bat here. All the recognized batsmen were back in the change room but England didn’t have enough runs on the board to be relieved. Though there was not much of assistance for the bowlers but the No.8 and No. 9 stitched together a partnership worth 108 runs to defy the Indian bowlers and post a challenging total. In the process, Rashid also crossed 50 runs, his second Test fifty and batted for 155 balls scoring 8 boundaries.

3. Worst figures in a home Test for Ashwin

The Indian ace Ravi Ashwin had a great start to the day, skipper Virat Kohli handed him the ball to start the proceedings and boy he had immediate success. He had Ben Stokes edging one to Parthiv Patel on just the 5th delivery of the day and that was a great sign. The hosts started to believe they can bowl them out cheap but despite a great start, it was hard work for Ashwin then on. He bowled and bowled and bowled, troubled the batsmen but didn’t strike. With little to no assistance from the surface and the slowness of the wicket, even the lower order managed to score runs against him.

He bowled 44 overs in the first innings with just 3 maidens giving away 151 runs had just one wicket. In the kind of form he is carrying, nobody expected Ashwin to get just one wicket while playing on his home turf. These are also his worst bowling figures while playing at home. But the champion he is, the offie will certainly come back to bamboozle the Brits in the second innings.

4. Amit Mishra’s day out

Mishra was a late pick in the team. Off-spinner Jayant Yadav who played the other three games in the series wasn’t available with a niggle and they brought in the wrist spinner for the last Test. A slow wicket, that has some turn on offer is considered to be a perfect surface for a leg-spinner who can turn the ball big time but Mishra looked rusty. He was brought in after the top order was back and Ashwin and Jadeja had done a superb job in their first spells but he couldn’t keep the pressure going.

England targeted him and he couldn’t pounce back at them. The trend continued for the rest of the inning and surprisingly he didn’t use his most potent and wicket-taking delivery the googly as often as one would have expected him to. To end with a relief he hit the timber of No.11 Jake Ball and yes it was a wrong un’. For his chances in future Tests Mishra would certainly hope for a better outing in the second inning.

5. Indian openers start firm:

England posted a challenging first innings total and to add to it India couldn’t start with their original opening pair of Murali Vijay and KL Rahul. The former was out of the field with a shoulder trouble and that will prevent him from entering the square until the 5th wicket. Rahul and Parthiv opened the innings. The pacers haven’t had anything off the wicket and they both got off to an ideal start. It was good to see Parthiv playing his shots and Rahul leaving the ball outside the off stump, something he has struggled against. The duo batted through the overs and India ended the day 60/0 with Rahul unbeaten on 30 and Patel on 28.