Mumbai: Murali Vijay (70 batting, 169b, 6×4, 2×6) overcame his recent nemesis – the short ball – to guide India to 146 for one in reply to England’s first innings score of 400 at the Wankhede Stadium here Friday. One could have easily stated that India are in a position of comfort in the fourth Test, but then looking at the pitch, it would be a bit premature to make such a comment.
The ball is turning sharply and it was the failure of Moeen Ali (1/44) and Adil Rashid (0/49) that helped India see through 52 overs for the loss of only KL Rahul’s wicket. They bowled too quick through the air, not allowing the ball to grip the track and thereby losing their effectiveness.
The only time Ali tossed the ball up, Rahul was lured into the drive and the ball burst through the bat-pad gap to hit the stumps. Many more such dismissals are on the cards, if the England bowlers use the conditions to their advantage.
Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara (47 batting, 102b, 6×4) have so far put on an unfinished stand of 107 runs for the second wicket. But then their job is far from over as batting on the pitch for a newcomer would be fraught with danger at the start. They should keep that in mind when they start their mission Saturday to bat England out of the game.
Vijay, in spite of his recent failures, looked his confident, elegant self from the start. There was a drastic change in his technique in tackling the short ball. Instead of ducking he was walking into the line of the ball and dropping his wrists and watching it sail to Jonny Bairstow’s gloves, a ploy that completely frustrated Anderson and company.
In between there were the lazy cover drives and an imperious flick over mid-wicket that sailed into the stands, off Rashid. As has been the case so far in the series against spinners, Pujara was dancing down the track to the very second ball he faced from Ali, hammering it through the covers for a boundary. Both were not ready to allow the spinners to dominate and they did that with aplomb.
Vijay was lucky though when Bairstow missed a stumping chance when the batsman was on 45. The bowler to suffer was Rashid. The batsman picked up his googly, but yet was lazy on the shot, but Bairstow failed to read it and India had a reprieve – a chance that England may rue later in the game.
Earlier Jos Buttler (76, 137b, 6×4, 1×6) overcame his early problems against spin to take England to the 400-run mark. For a batsman, who started shakily in the morning, Buttler evolved enough with time to even smote Ravi Ashwin’s (6/112) carrom ball for a six after lunch. And he took England to a first innings score from which no side have ever lost in the history of the game at the Wankhede.
Ben Stokes (31), Rashid (4) and Chris Woakes (11) all left early… as the Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja (4/109) combo worked in tandem. But then Buttler found an able ally in Jake Ball (31, 60b, 4×4) and the two stole 54 runs from India during their ninth- wicket stand. With every ball he grew in confidence and even smote Bhuvneshwar Kumar to the cover fence after the second new ball had been taken in the 122nd over.
India’s first target Saturday should definitely be to reach the figure of 201 and avoid the follow on. But after that they need to bat as long as they can to avoid an encore of 2006 and 2012. If they can, they will guarantee the return of the Anthony de Mello Trophy to the BCCI cabinet after a gap of four years.
Agencies
