ENG vs IND | 3rd Test, Day 4: Robinson's fifer help hosts level series against brittle India batting

The fourth day of the Leeds was nicely poised to have a cracking contest between Indian batsmen, who were working hard to make up for the disaster in the first innings and England bowlers, who were putting their all to square the series. 

England had abandoned the plan of bowling with the older ball to Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli late on the third day and decided to wait for the new ball at the start of the fourth day. 

Joe Root in his mind would have hoped for a similar bowling performance to that of the first-morning session of the game with the fresh duke ball in the hands of James Anderson and Ollie Robinson in the morning session of the fourth day. His bowlers heard his call and unleashed a relentless spell of swing and seam bowling to dismantle India for 278 runs after they started the day on 215/2.

Never-ending streak of Indian collapses

When India were bundled out for 78 runs in the first innings, it was rated as an aberration and it was hoped that the batting group will rise to the occasion in the second innings. 

There was some welcome signs as first the partnership between Pujara and Rohit and then Kohli’s partnership with Pujara provided the glimpse of what an Indian batting unit batting at their best look like on the third day.

There was sense of urgency to score on loose balls while tough balls were negotiated with good leaves and nudge with soft hands. Skipper Kohli appeared to be coming close ot his best and there were some high hopes of them to replicate all the same on the fourth day.

However, even before the team could add one run to the total, Pujara misjudged one delivery from Robinson and offered his pad. He was set up beautifully by the pacer and Pujara left the ball thinking it was going to swing away from him.

As soon as he went back to the pavilion, the floodgates were open for England. Kohli hit one crisp on the drive between midwicket and mid-on to bring up his first fifty of the series, but continuous examination from Anderson at one end paralysed his decision making. In the end, he was again caught in the slips while defending a ball he could have easily let it go.

The story was not any different for Ajinkya Rahane, who once again poked at a ball that straightened from the line of the fifth stump and Rishabh Pant, who offered catching practice to Craig Overton at third slip to leave India in tatters inside the first hour itself.

Robinson’s masterclass

When the conditions offer a lot of assistance, the best bowler is the one who is disciplined and bowls good length (specific to pitch and conditions) and let the ball decide how it behaves in order to get the best and maximum results. Ollie Robinson seems to be a perfect student of that school of thought.

When the partnership between Pujara and Rohit was flourishing in the afternoon session of the third day, he was the best England bowler who kept on asking the batsmen to play at deliveries around off stump. He was rewarded with the big wicket of Rohit when the right-hander saw an opportunity to score runs against a ball that was coming into him.

Kohli and Pujara batted with discipline to save the final session for India and England needed big efforts from him. He had to put his hands up as Anderson has not been having the best of performances in the second innings of Test matches of late.

Both he and Anderson was not straighter to either Kohli or Pujara in the first few overs, but he corrected his line of attack quickly in his second over of the day. He got Pujara in front of the stump and then earned the big valued edge of Virat Kohli’s bat to leave India gasping for air in the first half an hour.

There was no looking back for either him or India as Pant, who has turned out to be his bunny in the series offered him another easy wicket. He picked up his second five-wicket haul of the series and dismantled India’s resistance albeit Anderson could scalp out just one wicket in the second innings.

England were desperate after Stuart Broad missed the last two Tests due to injury and Joe Root will be delighted to see his youngest pacer in terms of experience at the highest level putting on match-winning performances one after another.

He was adjudged Man of the Match for his brilliant bowling figure of 81/7 in the Leeds Test.

If India would be honest to themselves, they would be eager to have a conversation about the frequent batting collapses they have had in the recent past. If they will choose to see the collapses in both innings of the Leeds Test, the issue will not be buried under the carpet and now, England will be emboldened to play on livelier pitches to ask more questions of this brittle batting lineup.