On a chilly day in Ranchi, where the sun played an elaborate game of hide-and-seek, it was Shoaib Bashir who shone the brightest, as he put England in control in the fourth Test against India on Saturday.
Bashir, playing just his second Test, produced an incisive bowling performance which reduced India to 219 for seven at the end of Day 2. His four-wicket haul also validated his skipper Ben Stokes’ pre-match rationale that the 20-year-old spinner would be a handful on this uneven surface due to his high release point.
HIGHLIGHTS | India vs England 4th Test Day 2
Bashir bowled with purpose and accuracy, forcing errors out of the Indian batters by targeting the cracks on the pitch. The 6 ft 4 in spinner accounted for four of the five Indian top-order batters, including opener Yashasvi Jaiswal, who was threatening to bat England out of the game again.
Jaiswal was measured in his approach up until then, utilising his expansive shots only after he got his feet sorted on a tricky pitch, as he became the fifth Indian batter to score 600+ runs in a bilateral Test series.
But the left-handed batter was left helpless when Bashir fired one in from around the wicket. The ball stayed low enough to clip the bat’s toe and bounce back onto the middle stump. Jaiswal’s dismissal meant India had lost half its side before it had managed to reduce its 353-run deficit by half.
The ominous gathering of dark clouds in the sky – which prompted the floodlights to be turned on – reflected India’s fate in the game as England piled on the pressure. A jittery Sarfaraz Khan and a nervy R. Ashwin fell prey to Tom Hartley’s left-arm spin as the visiting side ate into India’s batting order on a surface that offered variable bounce and sharp turn.
India stumbled its way to Stumps, without losing another wicket, thanks to a dogged 42-run eighth-wicket stand between Dhruv Jurel and Kuldeep Yadav.
Shoaib Bashir with captain Ben Stokes during the second day of fouth Test. | Photo Credit: K.R. Deepak / The Hindu
India’s struggle with the bat began much earlier with the English new-ball pair getting into the act. James Anderson, playing a record-equalling 16th Test in India, began by snaring Rohit Sharma. The Indian skipper left his bat hanging to a delivery outside the off stump, handing wicket-keeper Ben Foakes a regulation catch.
Jaiswal pushed on tentatively, before opening up with a rush of boundaries, with a crunching off drive against Anderson being the pick of the bunch. He was aided by a fluent Shubman Gill, with the pair putting on 82 runs for the second wicket.
Once the new ball scuffed up, Gill and Jaiswal grew in confidence. The former asserted his control with a couple of straight drives against the pacers, while the latter gathered his first six of the Test with a stepped-out smack over long on off Bashir.
Jaiswal survived a close call on 40, when he nicked one off Ollie Robinson, only for the ball to die down just in front of Foakes. The decision, confirmed by the third umpire, received a loud roar of approval from a partisan Ranchi crowd, while simultaneously evoking disbelief from the English huddle.
But England broke through soon enough, just when the Gill-Jaiswal pair was threatening to settle in for a long haul. Bashir managed to hit one of the widening cracks on the pitch, forcing the ball to deviate in sharply. Gill, who had planted his front foot forward in an attempt to defend, was caught in front.
England skipper Stokes tried to force another wicket by setting up a leg-side heavy field for the new-batter Rajat Patidar against Bashir. The trap played just enough with the Indian No. 4’s mind as he played down the wrong line to an off-break from the spinner to be trapped LBW.
Ravindra Jadeja, who came in at No. 5, quickly doused England’s surging momentum by launching Hartley for back-to-back sixes - one over long on and one beyond mid wicket. But Stokes refused to go on the defensive despite Jadeja’s intent to go big and was duly rewarded. Bashir, employing his top spin to great effect from around the wicket, had the Indian all-rounder caught at short leg off an inside edge.
Ollie Robinson plays a shot during the second day of fouth Test. | Photo Credit: K.R. Deepak / The Hindu
Patidar and Jadeja’s dismissals marked the beginning of England’s ascendancy on a day, which had begun in typical Bazball fashion. Robinson, the batter, started the morning session like he had a flight to catch. He was unbothered by the new-ball-wielding Indian pacers, often stepping down the track against them. The England No. 8 raked in three fours in an over against first-day hero Akash Deep.
Robinson got to his maiden Test fifty with a lofted sweep shot against Jadeja. The Indian left-arm spinner eventually ended the his knock, thanks to a sharp catch by wicket-keeper Dhruv Jurel.
Jadeja ended with a four-wicket haul as he claimed the last three English wickets, leaving Joe Root stranded at 122. The English batter walked off the ground while acknowledging the applause from an enthusiastic crowd, which would soon realise the value of his unbeaten ton.
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