ENG vs IND | 4th Test, Day 1: Shardul, Umesh, Bumrah check hosts' juggernaut on 13-wicket day

The sequence of events on the first day of the fourth Test at the Oval appeared similar to that of the last game at Headingley as Indian batsmen once again struggled to combat the swing and seam of the England bowlers. 

However, there was little difference in the script as Shardul Thakur launched a massive counterattack against England and then Jasprit Bumrah snared both English openers cheaply to bring India in the game. 

To further help India at the fag end of the day, Umesh Yadav castled Joe Root with possibly the ball of the game considering the worth of the wicket and the man who went back to the pavilion, to end the day on an even note and the game nicely poised.

Change in order, no change in disorder

India pulled off a massive surprise when Ravindra Jadeja walked to bat in place of Ajinkya Rahane when Cheteshwar Pujara was undone by another piece of James Anderson’s brilliance. Commentators argued that maybe Rahane was not ready to bat due to some circumstances and hence Jadeja went out to bat but the argument does not sounds logical on the face of it.

India may well have changed the batting order to break the continuation of right-handers in the top and upper-middle order and left-handers in the lower order where Jadeja and Rishabh Pant bat at consecutive positions.

Jadeja has shown good improvement with the bat in the recent past but the promotion looked too much for his ability and the England bowlers were all over him with variation in swing and seam. However, he found his feet to hit some boundaries before Chris Woakes found his length and got him edging to Joe Root at first slip.

Rahane came into the fourth Test under enormous pressure and was batting with immaculate precision around off stump. He was not eager to put bat to the ball early on his innings and waited for half volleys to get onto driving. However, he was defeated in the game of patience by Craig Overton and his bad habit of poking at the ball bowled around the fifth stump channel led to his downfall one more time.

Pujara too was guilty of falling prey to Anderson’s wide of the crease tactic. He got a brilliant delivery from Anderson, but his handling of the pacer has also left a lot to be desired so far in the series. He looked good and confident at Headingley in the second innings and like his other partner Rahane, could not make good form count with another substantial score to help India take an advantageous position.

Robinson’s control, Woakes’ variety

James Anderson did not start well with the new ball and the Indian openers were up and running with boundaries in the first six overs. Root took Anderson off the attack and employed Woakes, who was returning to the longest format after a hell of a long time in the attack and he was on the money from the one go. 

He teased Rohit with full, swinging deliveries and the right-hander, unlearning everything that has been working well for him went for a booming drive through the cover. 

However, his demise was created by a back of length delivery and seamed away with a bit of extra bounce and Woakes’s precision in using all the pitch could offer was on display very early on.

At the same time, Robinson was giving nothing away and picked up the huge wicket of Virat Kohli in the afternoon session to put India on the backfoot.

Woakes has been an improved bowler and his ability to preempt batsmen tactic was also on display in the last session. He knew Pant was not trusting his defence to not try a big shot and he timed his brain perfectly to deliver a slower ball when the wicketkeeper jumped down the track to hit him over the top. He later came back with discipline in the face of a bullish onslaught by Shardul Thakur to stop him from running away with the game.

Shardul’s grabs opportunity with fire

Right after his remarkable all-round performance at the Gabba where his both batting and bowling performances had paved the way for India’s series win, Shardul Thakur’s stocks has only gone up in the Indian camp.

He was preferred over Ravichandran Ashwin in the first Test at Trent Bridge that raised many eyebrows and his bowling provided Virat Kohli with a perfect “template” to carry on with even in his absence in the next two games.

He was brought back in place of Ishant Sharma to aid the trio of pace bowlers and provided some batting depth to an out of form batting lineup. His primary role was to provide control with the ball but when the team was in trouble on the first day, he provided the team with an opportunity to set aggressive fields. 

He was brutal against balls pitched in his half or completely away from the batting crease. Some of his shots that carried over the fence would have made real T20 stars proud and his 31-ball 53 helped India closer to the 200-run mark which once appeared to be far beyond their reach.

Looking forward to the second day

After openers fell cheaply, Root once again threatened to take the game away from India’s grasp with a flurry of boundaries. Indian bowlers also did not help their cause until Umesh Yadav produced a jaffa that jagged back massively to sneak in between his pads and the bat to hit the stumps.

With Root gone, England too don’t have a lot of batsmen in form and three of the four top-scorers from the last game are back in the pavilion.

India would be hoping for a couple of early wickets to start the second day. The next batsman Ollie Pope will be under pressure after returning only in the absence of Jos Buttler while Jonny Bairstow and Moeen Ali have not been at their menacing best with the bat.

The first session tomorrow will set the tone and up to a certain extent will dictate which side will have an upper hand in the game and the series with levelled at 1-1.