Aakash Chopra: England need a miracle in Vizag

Aakash Chopra 18:42 17/11/2016
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  • Kohli and Pujara put India in the driving seat.

    Just like Rajkot, this pitch at Vizag is also a typical win the toss and bat first pitch. Unfortunately for England that’s where the similarities between the two surfaces end. The pitch for the first Test had bigger blocks, a firmer surface and more grass but the one for the second Test, quite expectedly, has smaller blocks and no grass. This pitch is likely to deteriorate at a much faster pace than the one in Rajkot. Winning the toss in the first Test put you in a position of strength but on this pitch, winning the toss is akin to almost winning the contest as long as you bat well and long in the first innings. Having done so on the first day, only an Indian collapse of gigantic proportions on the second day will give England a sniff. India, on the other hand, would look to bat England out of this game and, in my opinion, they’re about 183 runs away from achieving that.

    ENGLAND STRIKE EARLY

    India didn’t get off to the start they’d wished for as Anderson and Broad reduced the hosts to 22-2. That’s when the Indian team must’ve realised that winning the toss is only half the battle, for the outcome depended on making this first innings count. In Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli, India had the two finest Indian players of this generation steadying the ship. Right from the beginning of their partnership, the intent to keep the scoreboard moving stood out, especially against spinners. While seamers managed to stem the run-flow with an outside-off line backed by a heavily guarded off-side field, England’s spinners simply couldn’t stitch enough dots together. England bowled only 10 maidens in the day and the spinners’ contribution to this was just two overs. English spinners may have bowled a little better than India in Rajkot, but their lack of quality was exposed on day one in Vizag, for the pitch here has a lot more to offer if spinners find consistency.

    PUJARA

    Pujara’s method against spin is the oldest in the book; use your feet to get to the pitch of the ball and then go deep inside the crease to work off the back-foot. Moeen Ali’s flatter trajectory or Zafar Ansari’s movement away from the bat didn’t stop Pujara from dancing down the pitch and though he didn’t step out that often against leg-spin, he made up for it by driving from the crease instead. Ever since he was dropped in West Indies, he seems to have made a conscious effort to remain busy throughout his stay at the crease. No longer can anyone raise an eyebrow about his strike-rate. In Rajkot, Pujara was hit on the helmet a few times and it was only fair to expect the same ploy in Vizag but the little adjustments he’s made to his technique kept him in good stead. Today, he was neither committed on the front-foot nor was he going across, and that allowed him to stay in a good position to negate the threat of the bouncer. Pujara has three hundreds on the bounce and, like all good players, he surely knows how to make the good form count.

    KOHLI

    If Pujara is ice, Kohli is fire. It’s heartening to see how Kohli is channelling his natural aggression into a hunger for runs. The journey from good to great is covered by players who are acutely aware of a good opportunity and make it count. From the moment Kohli walked into bat, he knew that this was an opportunity to score big. He did the same in Antigua and Indore against West Indies and New Zealand respectively. Kohli’s demeanour suggests that he feels it’s criminal to let go of an opportunity to bat first on a good pitch and on both occasions he scored a double century. The muted celebrations at each milestone here is a giveaway that he’s eying another big one on Friday. Apart from the unflappable temperament, Kohli’s magical wrists stood out. Bowling to Kohli was like bowling to a revolving door, for it was almost impossible to set a field that could’ve stopped him from rotating the strike.

    ANDERSON – THE MASTER

    India could’ve run away with the honours if Anderson didn’t strike with the second new ball. In fact, England could’ve been in a bigger spot of bother if he hadn’t sent Murali Vijay back at the start. It was a brave decision to rest the best English bowler from the first Test but as we know that there’s a very thin line in bravery and foolishness. Anderson’s class ensured that Cook didn’t cut a sorry figure at the end of the day, for irrespective of the experience, it was a gamble to play someone who hadn’t played a game since August ahead of your best bowler. The ball that dismissed Vijay showed his understanding of the Indian conditions [bowled with a cross-seam] and Rahane’s dismissal proved that swing is still king.

    While Anderson has saved England’s blushes on the first day, Cook desperately needs his spinners to come to the party on Friday, for it’s unrealistic to expect all 10 wickets from quicks in India. Kohli and Pujara have put India in the driver’s seat and it would be nothing short of a miracle if England walk away from Vizag without conceding their first loss of the tour.

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