4th Test, Day 2: India fight hard to stay in contest after Pope, Woakes give hosts big advantage

It could have been a lot worse than it actually was for India at the end of the second day of the fourth Test at the Oval if not for first a penetrative bowling attack and then highly disciplined opening pair in Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul.

Having dealt England a killer blow at the end of the first day and then starting brilliantly in the morning session, Indian pacers lost their way and conceded too many easy balls for England batsmen since the second hour of the day. 

However, between loose balls and inaccurate lengths, there were some wonderful deliveries and bad shots from England batsmen that never pushed them out of the game. For once, they were in a position to restrict England’s led below 50 runs but Chris Woakes thwarted that ambitions with an aggressive fifty filled with remarkable shots composure.

Kohli’s frustration and lack of communication

The days like the second day of the fourth Test exposes Virat Kohli’s rigidity in decision making while on the field. He should have been in Shardul Thakur and Mohammed Siraj’s ears, especially as they are not experienced as the trio of Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami and Ishant Sharma when they were trying to search magic deliveries. 

The first half of the first session yielded just 25 runs and two wickets as Bumrah and Umesh tightened their length around the off stump. However, the next set of pacers in Siraj and Shardul opened the tap and allowed the batsmen some easy run-scoring opportunities.

What could have frustrated Kohli more was that they leaked runs on both sides of the wicket while the field was set for them to bowl in the channel outside off stump. His frustrations would be justified but his inability to sense a moment where he could have a word with the bowler and reiterate where they are supposed might have helped them as well

Later, when the last batting pair of Woakes and Anderson was there at the crease, and as Bumrah was bowling short of good length deliveries seeing no help from the pitch when bowled at full length, he should have been at least reactive to put a third man in position having seen England batsmen taking easy runs through that area playing on the backfoot.

The tension and frustration on his face were quite evident when Woakes was tearing apart the bowling attack shot by shot and all the options of playing five bowlers including four pacers did not come to rescue him at that stage. 

He should consider himself lucky that the bowlers find inspiration from themselves to produce wicket-taking deliveries even on unsupportive pitches such as the Oval on the second day otherwise it would have been curtains for the tourists on the second day itself.

Pope blesses England’s revival

Ollie Pope is rated very highly by the England team management and his return was obvious as soon as Jonny Bairstow took the gloves in the absence of Jos Buttler.

There are also talk that he could be the next Joe Root for England cricket and he could not have picked better moments and game to show some glimpses of those promises yet again. 

England were in uncharted territory as soon as Root was castled by Umesh on the first day and with the fall of Malan early on on the second day, all the batsmen who had a good run for form in the last game were back in the pavilion. He came very early to bat when Overton was sent back by Umesh and batted with immense elegance and flair to keep India at bay for the large part of the second day.

For all the brilliance of the Indian attack, it was him who shifted the momentum back in England favour with three fours off Shardul Thakur in over right at the start of the second hour of the day. The next over by Siraj was met with the same treatment by him and Bairstow and all the pressure mounted in the first hour was settled within a space of 12 balls.

He was batting with control around off stump and offered no chance to Indian bowlers. He was crouching low in defence and never allowed even sharp bounce on some of the Bumrah’s deliveries to catch the edge or splice of his bat and carried England past India’s first innings score of 191.

He looked all set for a three-figure mark at his home ground but his stars were not brighter than Shardul Thakur, who has not done too much wrong in this Test match so far and went back for 81.

Down to Rahul-Rohit once again

India had to bat a period of 16 overs on the second day and the lead of 99 runs must have been in their mind, at least the openers, who have been the mainstay of India’s batting in the series.

A period of 16 overs have been long enough in the series to leave a catastrophic effect on India’s batting but none of them made it to appear in their batting. Rohit offered a chance to Rory Burns in the slip which he could not see coming his way while Rahul was beaten by some deliveries that nipped back towards him off the seam.

The first two overs presented them with their biggest challenge but they were looking to score runs whenever England pacers erred in their lengths by bowling short. They have taken India to almost half of the lead they have conceded and would be eager to make up for their failure in the first end.

They have been India’s best batsmen so far in the series and although they would be willing to make a mark for themselves, they would also be hoping for a change in script and middle order to come to the party.

Looking forward to the third day

India have all their wicket intact with 56 runs behind England’s lead of 99 runs and the first session of the third day will set the tone for both the sides.

India have been in this situation before in this series but have gone on to squander great starts in the series so far. They have suffered a repetitive collapse in the morning session in the series until now and the batting lineup will be banking on players to finally put their hands up in an all-important game.

On the other hand, England would hope that the moisture on the pitch in the morning session will help the pacers get some seam movement which was almost missing for the most part of the second day. They would also be confident of challenging the Indian middle-order who has not turned up for big scores in a long-long time.