Moeen down
CricViz recording three false shots against the slow stuff all day.
England had made a decentenough start with the new ball – both Jimmy Anderson and particularly Stuart Broad pitching fuller than short, wasted spells at the end of day one.
And after India resumed on 19-0 it was not long before Broad was rewarded with the wickets of the two openers, getting one to nip back at KL Rahul and another to curve away from Shikhar Dhawan.
Given his form in this series to date, the sight of Kohli joining forces with Pujara looked ominous for England for a while, new ball, grind down the bowlers and then cash in. That is what he did yesterday, playing just two scoring shots from his first 32 deliveries before finding his rhythm and reaching 50 in 100 balls.
The 30-year-old showed his heart as well to carry on after being struck on the helmet by a Ben Stokes bouncer midway through the afternoon. the pair pushing through lunch unbroken and on to a 92-run partnership.
But Sam Curran continued his hot streak, getting the India captain to push at a delivery in the fourth-stump channel and edge to Cook at first slip.
In his stay at the crease, Kohli passed 6,000 Test runs and struck some elegant cover drives.
Yet there was vulnerability as well, Kohli reaching his milestone with a scratchy edge past the slips.
Moeen might have taken him earlier than Curran, too, when an edge on 33 flew between Not for nothing have India’s fans christened him the ‘New Wall’ in homage to the great Rahul Dravid, a man he succeeded in the Test team at the age of 22.
Pujara had been in woeful form coming into this series, averaging just 14 runs during a county stint with Yorkshire and not even Jos Buttler and Ben Stokes at slip. Ajinkya Rahane, who was dropped on five by Root at second slip off Stokes, and Pujara again threatened to build before the England all-rounder returned to reclaim his victim.
It was just as well that Stokes, clearly struggling with his left-knee injury and able to fire down only seven overs all day, was then able to stand and admire Moeen’s work as India lost six wickets for 53 runs.
That Pujara was not one of them ensured India and the series ended last night very much alive. being selected for the first Test. But in proving that class is permanent and form temporary, he has still faced more balls in this series than any other batsman apart from Virat Kohli. It is the kind of statistic that left another great blocker of the past, Geoffrey Boycott, purring. “Pujara hasn’t played great this series and didn’t for Yorkshire but he is a solid No3 who stays there and grafts.”
Pujara is the antithesis of the last three men England have tried at three: Tom Westley, James Vince and Joe Root, who are all strokemakers
The merits of going with someone a little more utilitarian were plain to see in Pujara’s performance.