BAIRSTOW LEADS ENGLAND RALLY
JONNY BAIRSTOW helped to answer the call for England to show more “fight” in the second Test - but admits much more will be needed to stay competitive against India.
Bairstow and Ben Stokes shared a stand of 110 for the sixth wicket as England recovered from 80 for five to reach a first-innings 255 despite Ravi Ashwin’s figures of five for 67 on day three in Vizag.
But England still conceded a yawning deficit of 200 - and after home captain Virat Kohli had added an unbeaten half-century to his 167 first time round, India’s advantage by stumps had been augmented by another 98 for three.
The numbers leave England with a mighty task to somehow avoid defeat here and move on to Mohali next week still all square with three to play.
A stalemate is improbable, and England win even more so, but Bairstow is ruling nothing out yet.
“We needed to show more fight, and need to show it for the rest of the game and the rest of the tour - whether that’s in the first innings or the fourth innings,” he said, having hit 53 in partnership with Stokes (70) before both were out either side of lunch.
“Fight comes in many different ways - with the bat, the ball, in the field.
“We showed some nice fight today, and taking three-for in the evening session was a strong comeback from us.”
There was a reassuring update for England on the availability, in the short term at least, of Stuart Broad - who helped to keep India in check in their second innings with two early wickets, before Kohli (56no) got to work again.
Broad had scans to diagnose the reason for pain in his right foot, and England medics have decided he can continue to bowl here.
A short statement from a team spokesman read: “Stuart Broad has strained a tendon and one of the small joints in his right forefoot.
“The injury will be reviewed further at the end of this Test.
“He will continue to bowl in India’s second innings.”
That can only help morale, and Bairstow added: “We’ll try to chase down whatever’s set.
“It’s important for us to make it as difficult as possible for India to score runs at the rate they want.
“The longer we can delay them puts us in a better position.”
Variable bounce is already evident and regular.
Bairstow nonetheless said: “I think there are runs to be had on the pitch, when it comes to when we bat.
“Everyone can see a bit of uneven bounce but you grit your teeth and bat on.
“We’ve shown before we can bat for long periods of time on sub-continental pitches.
“We’ve got 500 out here, and we’ve got people within our batting line-up who are able to score the runs - whatever that may be.”
Bairstow had few problems on the way to his 50 - at least once he got himself out into the middle again to resume his innings.
As he skipped out to bat at the start of the morning session, he tripped himself up and needed hasty treatment on his twisted knee.
“I tripped up, made myself look like a wally and hurt my knee a bit,” he said.
“My boot got lodged in the turf, but I should be fine.
“It was sore, (but) I don’t think it affected me too much. It was just a bit of a pain in the backside - or the knee!”
He and Stokes, as they have done for much of the past year, then formed a fruitful partnership.
“We complement each other - being left and right-handed helps,” said Bairstow.
“We rotate the strike pretty well - and with a combination of calming each other down, hard to believe with two redheads out there, it seems to work quite nicely.”
They negotiated Ashwin for more than 44 overs in all. But as India’s debutant off-spinner Jayant Yadav pointed out, repeating the feat on a deteriorating pitch, is sure to prove tricky.
“It’s going to be a tough proposition, because we pride ourselves on being a consistent group of spinners,” said Yadav.
“It’s going to be really tough, with the variable bounce and the odd ball turning.”