India vs England 2021, 2nd Test – Who Said What

India and England locked horns against each other for the 2nd Test match of the series in Chennai, and the hosts couldn’t have avenged the last loss better. India crushed the visitors by 317 runs. After winning the toss on day one, the home side decided to walk up with the willows, and the perfect tone of the game was set by hitman Rohit Sharma. Sharma played a magnificent inning of 161 runs and shifted momentum towards hosts.

Ravi Ashwin was declared as the player of the match for ruling both the departments of the game equally well. The bowling section of visitors was dominated by Moeen Ali, who bagged 4-wickets under his belt. India ended the show of England on just 134 runs in the first innings, courtesy Ashwin’s classy fifer. Moving up to the 2nd innings, India posted 286 runs and acquired a mammoth lead of 482 runs.

Ravi Ashwin- the magician for India

Ashwin decided to rule the game again and this time with the bat. The skillful all-rounder smashed a terrific century (106) to put India in a driving position. The bowling department went purely in favour of spinners where Ali and Jack Leach had four wickets each under their belt. The second innings of England could touch only 164 runs and handed India a massive victory. Debutant Axar Patel stamped his authority well enough by clinching a five-wicket haul this time.

Winning skipper, Virat Kohli said:

It was a bit strange in he first game to be playing at home with empty stands. We were pretty flat on the first two days over there to be pretty honest, myself included, didn’t pick up energy on the field. But from the second innings onwards in the first game, we picked up and wee on the money in terms of our body language. The crowds make a big difference, this game was an example of the grit and determination this side shows and the crowd is a big part of that. Chennai crowd are very intelligent, they understand their cricket really well. In a 15-20 minute period where the bowler needs the support of the crowd, it is my responsibility to involve everyone and bring in the crowd. If I am running in to bowl in this heat, I need people to motivate me. It is a perfect game for us. The conditions were challenging for both sides, but we showed more application with the bat. We didn’t panic out there looking at the turn and bounce, we showed grit, got into the game and scored 600 runs in the game. We know our bowlers would do the job for us if we put up these runs. The toss wouldn’t have mattered much in this game to be honest, because if you looked at our second innings, we got 300 as well. It wasn’t unfair if the toss went either way. Both teams should be in the game from the first session onwards, whether it is on spinning to seaming tracks, and that exactly was the case in this game. Rishabh Pant has really worked hard in Australia, when he moves with the gloves you can see the difference in his reactions. He has shed a lot of weight and has worked hard on himself. It is showing, the way he kept with so much turn and bounce, credit to him. We want him to keep improving as a keeper because we know the valiue he brings to the team. It is a very, very special moment for Axar. He would’ve played the first game as well if he didn’t have that niggle. He was keen to step on, and if you get that kind of pitch, he was all smiles and couldn’t wait to get the ball in his hands. Hope he builds on from here, he has an important couple of games ahead. I take a lot of pride in improving myself and correcting my mistakes quickly.

Losing skipper, Joe Root said:

Credit to India, they outplayed us in all three departments. It has been an education for us, you could come up with conditions like these and we have to learn from this and find a way to score runs. We need to learn to build pressure and bowl six balls at one batsman. On day one we could have been a bit tighter, squeeze the game a bit more and make it harder for them to score. From day two it was a very difficult wicket to bat on. But we have got to be smarter about how we’re building an innings. We are 1-1 and we are excited about the next two games given the way we played in the first game. We could’ve played that extra spinner, it is always easy to look at balancing a side at the end of the game. It will be different again when we turn up for the third game which will be a day-nighter, and very exciting last two games. Moeen got better with the ball as the game went on, and we know how destructive he can be with the bat. Ben Foakes batted really well in the first innings and his keeping has always been excellent. There are definitely things we can take from this week and it is just important that we stay level as a team. We performed last week and we have got to learn quickly. There are a lot of players who haven’t played much cricket in this region and we have to learn quickly, which is something we have done well over the last few years. Ahmedabad will be very different, we have played only two pink ball games. It looks like a fantastic venue, really looking forward to that.

Player of the match, Ravi Ashwin said:

This wicket was very different to the one we played on in the first game. This was a red soil wicket, the first one was a clay wicket. As much as people were predicting things from the outside, I thought the balls that was doing much wasn’t getting wickets. It was the mind of the batsmen that got us wickets. I have been playing for years over here now and it takes pace and guile to do it.  Keeping intent was very important. It is very important to put the pressure on the bowlers because if you allow them to dictate terms, it is going to get easier. I just wanted to take it upon myself, and after I connected the first ball, I knew I got a hang of this wicket. I am someone who tries hard, and when things don’t go my way, I try harder. Vikram Rathore has been very supportive. My batting was more about hands, to think tactically instead of technically. Ajinkya played a crucial role in telling me that I was overthinking it. That innings in Sydney really set the tone for me. I am enjoying my game and am really happy it happened in Chennai.