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The Indian team was in a position of advantage at the end of day 1 with the home team loitering at 198/7. After England put on half-century partnerships for the first two wickets, the Indian bowling unit pulled things back with six wickets in the final session.
On day 2, things didn't go according to the plan for the visitors as they ran into a resilient Jos Buttler who was determined to take his team out of trouble. The No.7 batsman was accompanied by Stuart Broad in their team's resurgence and the two put together 98 runs for the ninth wickets. The crucial partnership that helped England post a total excess of 300.
Also read: Twitter reacts as Jos Buttler takes England from 181/7 to 332 in the first innings
India did not get the right start to their innings as Shikhar Dhawan departed off the first ball of the second over. After Dhawan's dismissal, KL Rahul and Cheteswara Pujara put together a 64 run partnership for the second wicket.
Just when Rahul looked set for a big inning, a jaffa from Sam Curran rattled the stumps behind him. As a result of the wicket, the Indian captain came into the middle but soon India lost the wickets Pujara and Rahane.
As usual, the onus to save India was on Virat's shoulders but the skipper got out off the bowling of Ben Stokes one run short of a half-century, leaving debutant Hanuma Virahri in the middle. Stokes followed up Kohli's wicket with that of Rishabh Pant in the very next over and India lost their sixth wicket.
Vihari who faced a few nervous moments in the middle along with Ravindra Jadeja is batting in the middle and it will be interesting to see how many runs India will add to their overnight score of 174/6.
Here's how the world reacted to England's dominance on Day 2 of the final Test:
Jasprit Bumrah:
“We were in a good position at 198/7, but they batted well and we couldn’t capitalise. We tried hard to bowl in right areas but they also applied well, so we can say they batted well. It is not like we bowled poorly and they batted superbly. It’s a combination of both."
On what the team had planned for the lower order - "There has been no specific planning for lower order batsmen. You plan for each batsman. Even if they are lower order, we respect them and play them that way. We tried to execute it today and it didn’t work."
With the exclusion of Hardik Pandya, India only had four main bowling options and here's Bumrah's take on that issue - “When you have an extra bowler, sometimes it gives you that cushion. With four, you tend to bowl more overs because you tend to come back quickly. That was the only difference, otherwise, we bowled a lot of overs. An extra bowler sometimes gives you enough rest.”
Bumrah's take on Buttler's innings - “As a bowling unit, we never say if we get him early we found it easy (or difficult if we don’t). He played well and was taking his chances. When you’re batting with the tail, you can. Our batsmen have done that as well before. Nobody would say anything if you get out, so it’s a win-win situation. If it doesn’t pay off, it’s okay. If it does, it’s a bonus for the team.”
Jos Buttler:
Speaking at the press conference on Day 3 morning, the English vice-captain said: "The lead at the minute is quite healthy and hopefully we can back up the performance today, tomorrow morning. We can be in a really strong position in the game."
On Kohli-Anderson duel - "Virat is one of the best players in the world if not the best at the minute and James Anderson is England's greatest ever bowler. So, as a match-up, for fans and players alike it is awesome to watch. I think two of them are immensely competitive and they have had a great duel all throughout the series. Jimmy has been particularly unlucky. I think he is great. He had some great chances and been very close and it has been great to watch."
Speaking about his performance, he added "of course you feel confident when you are contributing to the team and scoring runs. I have been very pleased with how it's gone so far since coming back but like I said just before, it is about being consistent and doing it again and more in the preparations side of things than actually in the middle. I am very aware of how things can change for the better or the worst very quickly. so, very much stay in the moment and continue to put on hard work."
Harsha Bhogle:
Aakash Chopra:
VVS Laxman:
Sanjay Manjrekar:
Ayaz Menon:
Some interesting ideas that we get from tweets on Day 2:
England's tail wagging away India's hopes of a win!
The Hanuma Vihari-Karun Nair discussion:
Maybe a few more practice matches?
Does the problem lie in Kohli's captaincy?
So close yet so far....
The Indian team needs to perform as a team.
Shikhar Dhawan's failure with the bat didn't go unnoticed.
How many opportunities will Rahul get?
A lot of hopes on the two overnight batsmen.
Stat Mania:
The triple centurions!
Is 49 the new 99?
Virat breaks the record by a handsome margin.
Anderson tops yet another list.
KL Rahul is breaking some fielding records.
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