Don’t forget how brilliantly these giants of English cricket bowled
Whatever happens from here, nothing can be taken away from two superstars of english cricket, Jimmy anderson and Ben Stokes. they were absolutely outstanding on the second day.
england were a bowler short and their off- spinner was struggling. When there was something in it for the seamers, Joe root only had anderson and Stokes to turn to. and boy did they stand up.
the skill, accuracy, effort, fitness and the way these two champions worked out the batsmen was exemplary and kept england in the game until that last session. the way they kept coming back in those conditions was incredible.
Look at the way anderson set up ajinkya rahane with outswing, inswing, outswing, inswing until he did not know what was going on and poked outside off-stump.
then the way Stokes set up rohit Sharma by holding the ball outside off- stump and from nowhere bringing in that big, booming inswinger. Ben had only bowled 15 overs in the series before this match and had been ill with a stomach bug all week.
root handled his big two perfectly — he had to after misjudging the conditions and his selection. It was blatantly obvious england needed three seamers.
he dealt with Dom Bess as well as he could. Some might say the spinner was mistreated after the first test when he was told to go away and work on his game. From what I have seen, what else could root have done? he has seen a bowler who is really struggling.
By the end of the day, you could tell Bess was hurting from his body language. the cameras were constantly on him as he watched anderson bowl with such control. then he would release the pressure with a full toss hit for four. he was clearly shaken.
Bess is not doing it on purpose and he would have felt like he let his team down. So root’s arm around his shoulder was spot on. the captain wants to get him in the game, not least because he may need him in the second innings, while also protecting him.
Stokes was supporting Bess too, clapping him whenever he bowled a good ball. england want to look after a young player and this team are a good, solid bunch who will rally around him.
The reality of test cricket is that any error can come back to bite you. england’s mistakes — not reaching a par score and going in a seamer light — were exposed in that last session after rishabh Pant brilliantly went on the attack as the bowlers tired.
It annoys me when an attacking batsman says ‘that’s the way I play’ when they get out going for a big shot. Pant has been guilty of that in the past but yesterday I saw a batsman who read the situation perfectly. It is the difference between an ego player and a situation player.
Pant sat in at first but he knew root only had those two seamers and one spinner struggling to land it. If he wore them down, he knew they would toil. By the time the new ball came along, anderson and Stokes were exhausted. It was the ideal time to pounce.
how brilliantly he did so — to charge anderson and then to reverse scoop him for four was extraordinary. this is the new ‘in your face’ India epitomised by virat Kohli and their batsman-keeper.
that was one of the best innings I have seen for a long time and, as australia know, Pant has done this sort of thing for a while now. add his exceptional wicketkeeping and you have a serious talent.
england were wishing they could have squeezed that extra spinner into the side without losing Dan Lawrence’s runs at seven. the answer is Moeen ali, which is why they asked him to stay on.
england are up against it now. If they could find a way of winning this final test, everyone will forget the mistakes. But if India win and go on to the World test Championship final, all those decisions will come back to haunt root. that’s the fine line a captain treads.