IND v ENG | 1st Test Day 2 Report: Red-hot Joe Root marshals his troops to punish India

If India were hoping for a better result on the second day of the ongoing first Test in Chennai, England skipper Joe Root, partnered with other batsmen made sure the misery got only deeper for the hosts.

The pitch at Chepauk played a little better for the bowlers on the second day, but it turned out to be too little and too late as Joe Root had already got his eyes in and other English batsmen got the platform to unleash attacking game against the Indian bowlers. But, the blame for being inconsistent with their lines and allowing batsmen to get away with hittable balls must lie with them.

The long and hard toil of Ishant Sharma finally paid dividends to him and the side as he saw the back of Jos Buttler and Jofra Archer on consecutive balls but the tourists had the game firmly in their control to suffer any sort of setbacks from the pacer. 

At the end of the day’s play, England were eight down for 555 and the batting tactics in the late phase of the day clearly established the approach the tourists are having at this point in time. 

They are clearly looking to make the most out of the pitch when it has been least conducive to any form of bowling. Later, they will rely on the likes of Jack Leach and Dominic Bess to bundle India twice as the pitch will start showing signs of wear and tear starting the third day.

All Indian pacers were guilty of not finding a perfect rhythm and bowling run-up as they came running on a spree of no-balls. The left-arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem who was considered as a safe option instead of Kuldeep Yadav by the team management was the biggest culprit with four no-balls as the hosts gifted as many as 19 no-balls in 180 overs. 

All including Ravichandran Ashwin who bowled the very first no-ball of his Test career contributed to that unwanted stats on the second day of the Test.

The scorecard might give the impression that the Indian bowlers bowled poorly against the tourists, but that was not the case completely as all of Ishant, Bumrah, and Washington showed signs of wo0rking well with the line that troubled the Englishmen. The fact that the tourists had such a big platform behind them, that the hosts were already chasing the game, and the lack of consistent support from the pitch made their case quite difficult. 

Nevertheless, Kohli would have backed his bowling attack to bowl with much better control than they actually did and the skipper was clearly not impressed with bowlers, especially Washington and Nadeem not committing to larger plans set by the management. In his 44 over so far, Nadeem has already conceded 167 runs, while off-spinner Washington too was indisciplined and let go 98 runs from his 26 overs.

On the pitch that was offering assistance very far and few in between periods of no help at all, Kohli clearly looked running out f options and the absence of Ravindra Jadeja was clearly telling on his face, along with the situation of the game.

Earlier at the start of the play, India were hoping for striking early t check England’s momentum throughout the day, and the new man at the crease, Ben Stokes also provided them opportunities with his usual aggressive style of batting. The all-rounder looked like a man on a mission of taking his team to a position of strength that India could never come back from. When Kohli brought Nadeem to exploit the rough building outside his off stump, the left-hander went berserk against the left-arm spinner, and India were put on the back foot fairly early on the second day as well.

Stokes was clearly looking to dismiss India with his aggressive strokes and he was successful as well, but he could not carry along long enough to push India on the brink. Methods that reaped success for him ultimately sent him back to the pavilion as his attempt to despatch Nadeem over the keg side fence from the rough finally led to his downfall and the plan finally proved successful for the hosts.

At the other end of the pitch, Joe root was carrying on his merry way with a role reversal from the first day where he had to play the role of an enforcer with Sibley protecting wickets from one end to stabilizing the innings with Stokes taking the game to India. He marched along to complete his second double century in the third Test this year and became the only batsman in the history of the game to reach the milestone n his 200th Test. 

He was outed to be the man who will make the difference for the tourists in this series, and if his concentration and technique of playing spin bowling are the indicators of what has to come ahead in the series, Kohli and company have their task cut out if they want to defeat this England side which clearly looked like a side which has learned some tough lessons in the subcontinent.

Root’s picking of length against spinners and being decisive with his feet movement stood out but he too would admit being surprised facing Ashwin and co. on a road, that too at Chepauk.

The next man in after Stokes, Ollie Pope was making his way back into the Test team after missing the series against Sri Lanka due to injuries and the lack of game time in the middle was clearly visible in his struggle to time the ball. Nadeem was equally inconsistent against him, but he could not utilize the short and wide deliveries and kept on finding fielders instead of gaps. Although he stitched a vital partnership with the skipper, he never looked like batting with the fluency he has been known so far in his career.

It would have been frustrating for the wicketkeeper-batsman Jos Buttler to be sitting for such a long time in the dressing room and the way he got out will not improve his feeling either. He has been rested in the series after this Test, and it clearly appeared that he will have only one shot at winning his critics in the series against India. 

As the ball got older, it was the time for Ishant Sharma to bag some wickets and earn redemption after toiling so hard on the first and the early part of the second day. He honed in around the off stump of Buttler, and in the end, the right-hander was flummoxed with the one that came back off the pitch and rattling his stumps. 

Jofra Archer would not buy the argument of the pitch at MA Chidambaram being a flat one as the very first ball he faced off Ishant cut him into half and rattled his tumps to put Ishant on the verge of a Test hat-trick.

Ishant had a perfect rhythm going and the spinning pair of Jack Leach and Dominic Bess who have to play an instrumental role for the tourists to win this game were tested around their off stump. At the end of the day, Indian bowlers finished the day on a frustrating note with many hits and misses from the English spin twins.

England’s approach of taking the game deeper and coring as many as they can pile on has raised some eyebrows among the commentariat but they can be forgiven for being wary of the Indian batting line up and learning the lessons from their last tour of India when they were defeated even after scoring more than 400 runs in the first innings. Root and the England team management is clearly looking to eliminate any chance of an Indian win with a mountainous score and lack of time in the Test.

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