Kohli leads the way after India pair fall early
India 322-6 v Essex
Runs for Virat Kohli gave a glimpse of his determination to improve his record in England, and the India captain should also have a better idea of his side for next week’s first Test after a day’s batting at a parched ground that looked more like Chandigarh than Chelmsford.
Kohli appeared to be batting on a different surface to his colleagues as he made 68 after Essex had done some damage with the new ball. Four years ago Kohli averaged 11 in England and was dismissed six times off the outside edge as James Anderson probed a fourth-stump line and tempted him to drive.
If India are to win a five-test series in England, their captain has to score heavily and this was an important step. Kohli put away anything on his pads, bringing up his fifty in 67 balls with his best shot, a drive through the on side, but there was a lapse in concentration that cost his wicket when he drove at a wide ball and was caught at slip.
This is India’s only county match of the Test leg of the tour and their decision to cut the game from four to three days due to the heat and a desire to get to Birmingham a day earlier not only showed a disregard for Essex, who had sold plenty of tickets for Saturday, but also gave away another opportunity for more meaningful practice.
India asked the groundsman to leave the grass on the surface, with a nod to what they will face at Edgbaston, and it did just enough with the new ball to give them some idea of facing Anderson and Stuart Broad if the ball swings.
Poor Shikhar Dhawan was out first ball and, while a fine hitter of a white ball and potent player on true pitches, he does not look like a Test opener in England if it swings. He was caught behind off Matt Coles but remains likely to play in Birmingham. Cheteshwar Pujara has bored England into submission with some marathon innings in India and averages 65 in Asia. Outside Asia it drops by half and in England to just 22. He averaged 14 for Yorkshire this season and was out for five here, pushing forward tentatively at a Coles outswinger.
KL Rahul looks a better bet at three. He made the most of Essex’s seamers wilting on a baking hot afternoon, hitting 58 before he was caught on the boundary holing out to spinner Aron Nijjar. Murali Vijay has a strong record in England with three hundreds on his previous two tours and gives Kohli stability and maturity at the top of the order. He was dropped on six but was unfortunate to receive the ball of the day from Paul Walter, which swung and moved to hit the top of off stump.
Ajinkya Rahane is a pivotal figure at five for India, coming in behind Kohli and with the game to attack or defend. But he looked rusty here before edging behind for 17.
This tour is probably the last chance for wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik at 33, and he started well with an unbeaten 82.