IND vs ENG| 2nd T20I: Box office Ishan Kishan, bowlers script another come back for hosts

Undergoing a complete course correction after a dismal show in the last game as per a script that must have been a familiar one by now, India bounced back to level the series in Ahmedabad. 

First, the bowlers did a stellar job of containing England to a score substantially lower than the tourists’ standard, and then they were outplayed with the bat on the back of magnificent innings from Ishan Kishan and Virat Kohli. Kishan was adjudged Player of the Match for his blazing innings to set up the chase for India.

Kohli made a remarkable comeback with the bat after a poor show in the last game. He was calculative and played his role of anchoring the chase perfectly. In the end, he finished the game for the hosts in a fitting fashion and became the first batsman to go past the 3000 runs mark in the T20s. 

Having suffered due to a sluggish display of batting at the top of the order in the last game, Kohli finally walked away from the set pattern of playing reliable players and handed Ishan Kishan a debut as an opener in place of Shikhar Dhawan. Kishan had hit the most number of sixes in the last edition of the IPL, and the spectators in the ground and in front of the TV must have been waiting for the balls to go beyond the boundary lines regularly.

The left-hander started his career with a gift on the leg side from Archer who could not replicate his hostility and venom from the last game. Both Kohli and Kishan managed to get India going after the early loss of KL Rahul who has gone two matches without making runs or showing signs of being in good touch—a vital aspect of his T20 batting career. 

At the end of the fifth over, India could muster only 34 runs with Kohli batting at a better strike rate than Kishan. However, the mutual inflexion point for both Kishan and India was very close as Tom Curran got ready to replace last match hero Mark Wood with the ball. The very first ball was belted over long-on to make a resounding statement which was followed by a display of his range of shot-making as Curran was left confused as to what were the lines to attack the lefty from Jharkhand.

Kohli’s delight after every aggressive shot from Kishan showed how badly India are in search of the end of their struggle with intent and the run rate at the top of the order. Specifically, from lessons of the last game and his long days in an international career, he knows the methods adopted by Kishan is fraught with high risk, but batsmen have to wear those risks on their sleeves for India to boss the shortest format at the international stage. And hence his kind words and public ratification were symbolically imperative.

Looking at the game slipping away from England’s grasp, Morgan called upon his talisman Ben Stokes to weave his magic wand in the seventh over. Instead, he ended up getting smashed all over the park to leave England searching for cover.

Adding insult to injury, Kishan dismissed him once more in the same over above square leg to send England a clear signal of being nerveless on his debut at the big stage. It was not to be Stokes’ day at Motera and it was evident in the very next over when he spilt an easy chance at long-on off Adil Rashid, who had successfully trapped Ishan Kishan. 

Morgan held back Rashid due to Kishan’s presence at the top to play matchups with opposition players, but the leg spinner had to come at some stage and the task of containing the left-hander remained when he was brought on to bowl in the eighth over. Kishan greeted him with a thumping slog-sweep before mishitting a flatter delivery to Stokes at long-on only to leave Stokes bemused at the drop of one of the easiest catches he has been offered in his career.

There was no looking back for Kishan after that and he ensured that he made it big on debut with back to back sixes off Rashid in his next over. He reached his fifty in 28 balls, but the hunger to strike big against the leg spinner resulted in him walking away caught in front of the wicket.

Pant’s promotion to number four continued in the second game and it is appearing the think tank is giving him the longer rope and license to go for the kill while he is in red hot form. He started with a bang like in the last game and launched offensives on Chris Jordan over the off side. 

By the time Pant left, the men in blue with the bat in hand had already made a light work of the England total, and Virat Kohli—the chase master was batting in supreme control to allow England any chance of sneaking their way back in the game. He batted with amazing precision and apart from a mis-hit off Stokes and a dropped catch from Buttler, he looked as solid as ever and established his prowess in the T20Is with some majestic shots that included a straight drive for six off Curran which was reminiscent of his best in the white-ball formats.

In the end, two magical boundaries off his troublemaker from the last game—Archer sealed the game and handed India a series-leveller game. 

It was a perfect outing for Virat Kohli, the captain as well, and it began with him winning the toss. He was happy to bowl first after seeing England batsmen enjoying batter pitch in the second innings of the last game. He called up two debutants in the team and dropped an all-rounder to bring more depth to the batting department. He took a big punt on Hardik Pandya’s bowling fitness and played only five bowlers. 

An off day for either of them, or any injury concerns would have made everything awry for India, but bowlers had their eyes on bringing their best game after a loss where they appeared toothless.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar showed good rhythm and tasted success in his very first over against Jos Buttler, who departed on the first delivery to send India in delight. There was no change in Jason Roy’s mood and he kept on his merry way of batting with an absolute dismissive attitude. However, he could not find regular boundaries and England were squeezed to only 44 runs at the end of the powerplay.

Desperate for runs, they went after Yuzvendra Chahal right after the field restriction was lifted but their efforts did not bear fruit in the leg spinner’s first over. To make matters worse, Malan who has been one of England’s flag bearer in the shortest format perished in the desperation of big shots against Chahal while Roy’s tiff continued for some more time as reverse sweep started flowing from his bat.

Kohli went back to the strategy of bowling Washington Sundar in the powerplay which has been his strength in the T20 format. He had an astonishing economy rate of 5.7 runs coming into this game and along with Bhuvneshwar Kumar, formed a lethal combination with the new ball to choke the Englishmen out on Sunday night at Motera.

Sundar reaped the rewards of tight bowling in the powerplay in his second spell when Roy got so itchy about not being able to hit boundaries and once again he combined with his new-ball partner Bhuvneshwar to bring about the downfall of the English opener. On 97/3 at the end of the 12th over, England needed some impetus to get going against spinners and possible for that reason, Morgan promoted himself up the order ahead of Stokes to take the game to Indian spinners. On cue, he started with a splendid inside out against Sundar.

At the other end, Bairstow was looking to launch Washington as well, but the off-spinner was too clever for his desperation. Sundar showed signs of maturity and slowed down the pace and took the line of attack away from him, having understood the right-hander was going for big shots every ball. A  slower-paced and dragged ball resulted in Bairstow top-edging the ball to allow the debutant Suryakumar Yadav to come in the game, even before he could come to bat.

From the other end, Shardul was carrying on with good work, but a mixture of misfortune and class of England batsmen were making his bowling figure worse than he bowled on the night. However, the spells of misfortunes did not last long and he came back to dismiss both Morgan and Stokes late in the innings to obliterate any chance of England posting an above-par total to put a longish Indian batting order under real pressure.

Morgan would have realised it too that India come back stronger when they face a big defeat and hence the stakes have gone higher in the series which appeared titled in the favour of England based on their track record in the format and clear-headed approach of domination. Virat Kohli showed some ominous signs for the opposition camp as well with the move of batting with ‘freedom’ and ‘intensity’ finally paying off in the second T20 of the series. 

England’s domination in the first game and an equally powerful comeback from India in the second game augur well for the remaining three T20Is of the series which will be contested while both sides will have their eyes on getting their priorities right for the elephant in the room in the form of World T20 scheduled for later this year.