Kohli and Pujara win mini-battle versus Anderson

MUMBAI: Both of England’s wicket-takers were in operation when Rohit Sharma was dismissed less than two overs after the tea-break. They were Ollie Robinson, who had just gotten rid of Sharma leg-before, and Craig Overton, the remover of KL Rahul from earlier in the day. Yet, the focus had shifted to two men emerging on to the field from their respective dressing rooms—not just because Virat Kohli was one of them, but mainly due to James Anderson being the other.

Anderson hadn’t taken the field after tea but was now by the edge of the boundary rope, warming up his bowling arm and raring to go. And why not, given that he had dismissed both the Indians out in the middle – Kohli and the well-set Cheteshwar Pujara – on 17 collective occasions in Test cricket; Pujara 10 times and Kohli seven.

The past doesn’t often count for much in Test head-to-heads, but in this case the Anderson threat was clear and present too. In this series alone, Anderson had dismissed them five times (Pujara 3, Kohli 2) and more significantly, both of them in the first innings of this very Test. Leeds, and the wider world of cricket viewers, lay in wait for the 39-year-old to be introduced into the attack.

The wait ended in the 53rd over, four overs after he had retaken the field; deliciously, with the Indian captain on strike, batting on just one run. “In 2014, Anderson won the battle and in 2018, Kohli did. This series so far Anderson is ahead on points,” said Nasser Hussain on air, setting it up quite like a ring-announcer would while the heavyweights sweated in their corners. Anderson ran in from his end and began with his trademark outswinger – pitching perfectly on good length to do its magic.

This was the very shape that had troubled Kohli more than any other, be it in 2014 or now seven years later—a shape that often forced him to play away from his body. But on Friday, Kohli reached outside his off stump with confidence, punching it into the dust with the middle of his bat. Next ball, Anderson altered his line to middle and the batsman doubled his growing faith by flicking it off his pads for a boundary. So, Anderson went back to teasing him outside his off stump. But Kohli would not be teased – he shouldered arms to the third ball and majestically drove the final ball of the over for another boundary, this time through the covers.

By the time the subsequent over by Robinson ended, a blanket of clouds shrouded over the ground and the floodlights began taking effect. Already it was reported to be a cold day in Headingley; now, just in time for the second over of Anderson’s spell, it would be dark too. Within these ideal conditions, the best swing bowler of modern times commenced the 55th over, with Pujara on strike.

In the previous session, Anderson had tried to exploit Pujara’s propensity to getting out to the in-shaping delivery. But every time Anderson had drifted on to Pujara’s pads, the batsman had found the ropes square on the leg side, in turn rediscovering his touch too.