Winning the toss and mounting a total of 329 on a pitch that is turning square right from Day 1 and then securing, what seems like a decisive first-innings lead of 195 – the second Test in Chennai has gone exactly like what the doctor ordered for the Indian team. Following the shocking defeat last week, the hosts desperately needed such a commanding performance to get their mojo back and one needs to credit the proactive thought-process of this team for getting into the driver’s seat of the match at Stumps on Day 2.
Yes, the pitch is diabolical in nature, tailor-made for Indian spinners. However, Kohli and Co. know that at times rank-turners can backfire, much like Pune 2017. Also, knowing the quality of spin England brought on this tour and when you are 0-1 down in the series, preparing such a pitch can always be a double-edged sword but the Indian team was ready to take that gamble. The home team knew their batsmen had better skill to survive on this pitch. Hence, they backed themselves to negate the toss advantage.
And for that proactive and courageous call, this team deserves some praise.
Nevertheless, even after winning that mighty important toss, at one point India were in a spot of bother at 86 for 3. From there it was the counter-attacking 162-run fourth wicket stand between Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane which gave the hosts some breathing space. Unfortunately, under similar circumstances England found no saviour this time around. Perhaps, the miss-timed sweep of Joe Root, which led to his dismissal pegged them back psychologically.
Furthermore, compared to their English counterparts, the R Ashwin and Axar Patel bowled with more discipline. In the first innings, England spinners first bowled 14 full-tosses and allowed batsmen some freebies. In comparison the Indian slow bowlers bowled none and hit good length areas more often. They drew the batsmen forward and created more wicket-taking opportunities.
When it comes to accuracy and guile on these conditions, Ashwin is an artist. Hence, it was not surprising at all to see him picking up yet another five-for on Sunday (February 14). He mixed his variations quite aptly along with altering his pace to keep the batsmen guessing. Also, the debutant Axar stuck to his job quite brilliantly. The wicket of in-form Root earlier in the day got him confidence and the youngster never looked back from there. Not only his natural left-arm angle was creating trouble for the English batters, but Axar also looked lethal with his drifters – the deliveries which went straight.
When it came to field placing, unlike the first Test, this time Kohli had a batter plan to counter the sweeps which yielded a lot of runs last time around. Initially for the likes of Dominic Sibley and Daniel Lawrence, he kept the square leg back. It meant, the Indian skipper was asking the opponent batsmen to play a high-risk shot for just one run. However, when Root came to the crease, Kohli challenged his ego to play the slog-sweep by keeping that exact square-leg fielder inside the circle. He knew, against Axar, who was turning the ball away from Root, timing that shot would be much more difficult. It was a risk worth taking and Root eventually fell into the trap.
Hence, at the end of the day we can safely say that it was not just the pitch which tricked England but the Indians had better skills and they were far more disciplined and proactive.