India in driver’s seat after Rohit, Gill centuries flatten England
Centuries from skipper Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill helped India entrench their control of the final Test against England with a 255-run lead on Friday.
The hosts finished day two on 473-8 with Kuldeep Yadav (27) and Jasprit Bumrah (19) bating at the picturesque Dharamsala stadium, in the lap of the snowcapped Himalayas.
India saw a middle-order stuter ater tea with spinners Shoaib Bashir (4-170) and Tom Hartley geting quick wickets but Yadav and Bumrah put on a stubborn partnership of 45.
“It was a hard day, a grating day,” England assistant coach Jeetan Patel told reporters.
“We’ve got to congratulate the boys for the way they stuck at it. You do the hard stuff time and time again, you eventually get your rewards.”
England had their moments when skipper Ben Stokes struck on his first ball since his knee surgery last year and fellow quick James Anderson moving to 699 career Test wickets.
But India kept up their dominance ater Rohit (103) and Gill (110) hammered home the advantage following India’s overnight start at 135-1.
Sarfaraz Khan made 56 and debutant Devdut Padikkal hit 65 but Bashir got the two out with his off-spin as India lost regular wickets.
Former New Zealand spinner Patel said Bashir was “fantastic.”
“Don’t get me wrong, he’s 20 and he’s got some overs to bowl yet, he’s going to have to keep learning,” he said.
“But what he’s done in his three Tests here has certainly shown that: the willingness to learn, the willingness to do the hard grat.”
Sarfaraz, who reached his fity in 55 balls, was caught at slip on the first delivery ater tea, ending a 97-run stand.
Let-hander Padikkal, who was a last-minute inclusion in the team ater injury to Rajat Patidar, impressed with his cover drives as he hit 10 fours and one six before being bowled by Bashir.
“Every boundary is enjoyable but the first boundary, off the edge, was most enjoyable because those were my first runs in Test cricket,” Padikkal told reporters.
He said his debut was “very special” for his family.
“They have put in so much hard work for me. They have sacrificed so much so that I could play. It is something you can never repay.”
Three wickets fell in the space of nine balls with let-arm spinner Hartley geting two in one over to expose the tail, which kept wagging.
England’s highlight for the day came when Stokes dispatched his Indian counterpart Rohit with a delivery that seamed off the pitch to ratle the batsman’s off stump in the second over ater lunch.
It ended a charging 171-run second-wicket stand with fellow centurion Gill.
Stokes’ stunning bowling return ater eight months and a knee surgery last November lited England’s spirits with the right-arm seamer on target right away. He bowled five overs for 17 runs including a maiden before retreating to field for the rest of the day.
Anderson got one to nip back in and bowled Gill.
The 41-year-old is one shy of becoming the third bowler to take 700 Test wickets, ater Sri Lanka’s Mutiah Muralitharan (800) and the late Australian great Shane Warne (708).
Rohit, who survived a dropped catch by Zak Crawley on 68, raised his second ton of the series with a single off Hartley to a standing ovation from the crowd.
Gill got to his hundred two balls later in the next over with a boundary off Bashir as he took a bow and doffed his cap to all corners.
Overnight baters Rohit and Gill went ater the bowlers right from the word go.
The one shot that epitomised their approach was when Gill stepped out against Anderson and hit test cricket’s most successful fast bowler over his head for a six.
“I thought the ball wasn’t doing much at that time,” said Gill, who smashed 110.
“I wanted to go over the top to put some pressure on him, and that’s why I played that shot.”
England are looking for a consolation win ater India took an unbeatable 3-1 lead in the fourth Test of the five-match series.
They won the second Test in Visakhapatnam by 106 runs, the third Test in Rajkot by 434 runs and the fourth Test in Ranchi by five wickets to capture the series. England won the first test in Hyderabad by 28 runs.