The usual script was followed: Ravichandran Ashwin ruffled the opposition batting up with yet another fifer, the tail wagged a little to extend the total, and Pujara-Vijay stood like a rock after a minor hiccup in the form of Lokesh Rahul. In all, it was a satisfying day for the Indian team, as they look set to respond to England’s first innings of 400 with yet another big score. Ashwin has the third best number of fifers for India in just 43 Tests, equally Kapil Dev’s 131 Test record of 23 fifers.
Murali Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara look in their elements, having compiled their seventh 100+ partnership in 35 innings of batting together.
Also read: India vs England – Day 2 Stats
Ashwin, who now has 241 Test wickets, accounted for six English victims in the first innings, well supported in the act by fellow spinner Ravindra Jadeja, who snared the rest of the four wickets. At the end of the day, he spoke about the pitch and why Joe Root’s dismissal was the most satisfying:
Ravichandran Ashwin
“I had to bowl the right pace and length. On this pitch, you need to get the speed right or else the ball skids and comes onto the bat. (On the carrom ball) I thought it was an important time to use it. It is not a bad time to unleash it because of the upcoming home Test. It depends on a few things: One is batsman specific, but more than that, it is how the batsman is going about his business. This is one of the pitches where the ball can go to the slip.
(On Root’s dismissal) I have been watching a lot of videos of his batting. He has been driving and push-driving: he was very good in Mohali and Rajkot, but those are different wickets and here you can nick to the slips. It was a good spell after lunch: I had to tell Kohli not to move because he was looking for the single to be stopped.It is a very deceptive wicket. It is pretty hard, and it is difficult to stick to one length”.
Twitter reacted to the second day’s enthralling play:
Harsha Bhogle
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