India vs England, 3rd Test, Day 1: 5 Talking Points

Wicket-keeper batsman Jonny Bairstow held the England innings together to help the visitors reach 268/8 by the end of the 1st day’s play in Mohali. Bairstow who was dismissed for 89 during the later stage of the day continued his dream run in the longest format of the game.

It was a fascinating day of Test cricket, which saw fortunes fluctuating from one team to the other before India eventually finished the day on top. There were lots of positives for the hosts to take as the spinners never allowed the visitors to have a firm grip on the game. They toiled hard and got their rewards in the crucial junctures of the game. Umesh Yadav, Jayant Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja were the pick of the bowlers chipping in with two wickets each.

Here we look at 5 talking points from the 1st day of the 3rd Test

1. Umesh Yadav bowled with venom

The lanky fast bowler bowled his heart out during the 1st day of the 3rd Test at Mohali and ended the day’s play bagging two wickets for 58 runs. Yadav started steaming in from the outset and went past the edge of Alastair Cook and Haseeb Hameed on numerous occasions before finally dismissing the teenager on 9. It was vicious delivery from Yadav which took off and hit Hameed on his gloves before landing on the hands of Ajinkya Rahane fielding in the slip cordon.

His 2nd wicket came during the closing stage of the day, when he castled Chris Woakes in the penultimate over of the day. Woakes was batting well and his wicket was just what the doctor ordered for the Indians. Yadav bowled 16 overs in the day to finish the day with 2/58.

2. Youngster Jayant Yadav‘s impressive spell

After an impressive debut in Vizag, Jayant Yadav continued to impress as he scalped the big fish Joe Root and followed it up with top scorer Jonny Bairstow’s wicket during the last few overs of the day.

Jayant who was brought in by Virat Kohli as the 1st change didn’t disappoint his captain and made an impact straightaway by trapping the most important batsman of the England line-up Joe Root right in front and there was no question about the fact that the ball was crashing on to the stumps. It was a huge wicket for Kohli and his young brigade which helped them to get past the star-studded English middle order quite cheaply.

Yadav was very impressive throughout the day’s play but had to wait for a long time to grab his next wicket. Jonny Bairstow was going great runs and was looking well set for a century but just then, the young offie bowled a straighter one which skidded through and struck Bairstow right in front. Though the wicket-keeper batsman went for a review, the decision given by the umpire was upheld as hawkeye indicated the ball would have crashed the leg stump.

3. Accurate bowling by Ravindra Jadeja

Ravindra Jadeja was the pick of the bowlers as far as India was concerned and looked the most likely bowler to pick up a wicket. He bowled in the correct areas and never allowed the visitors to get away. After a dull phase of play, hard hitter Ben Stokes couldn’t resist the temptation and stepped out to hit him out of the stadium but eventually missed the straighter delivery to be stumped by Parthiv Patel.

After an impressive stand between comeback man Jos Buttler and Jonny Bairstow, the left arm spinner bamboozled Buttler with his pace variation as the hard hitter went for an uppish cover drive. Captain Kohli covered sufficient ground to easily complete the catch. It was a great opportunity for Buttler in the English whites purely as a batsman.

4. Parthiv Patel’s woeful Test return

The comeback man Parthiv Patel had a forgettable time during the 1st day of the 3rd Test, dropping as many as three catches, twice of Cook and once of Bairstow besides missing the occasional delivery here and there.

The 31-year-old left-hander was pretty ordinary behind the stumps but did manage to take the catch of Cook and initiated a stumping of Ben Stokes. The southpaw would look to put the lacklustre performance behind his back and come back stronger on the 2nd day.

Though Cook’s missed chance didn’t cost India much, but Parthiv would look to improve on his performance after donning the Indian whites after a gap of 8 years.

5. Jonny Bairstow continues his sublime form with the bat

Wicket-keeper batsman Jonny Bairstow who is currently going through a purple patch in his career continued his dominance scoring a fluent 89 before being dismissed by Jayant Yadav with few overs remaining in the day.

Bairstow joined Moeen Ali in the middle after the fall of Cook’s wicket and started ticking along the scoreboard. He found the gaps and took singles and doubles on a consistent basis. He was troubled by Jadeja early on but settled in well to bail the visitors out of trouble. Bairstow struck 6 boundaries during his innings and was eventually trapped in front by Jayant Yadav before the close of the day’s play.