Traditionally, the third day of any Test match is the one which indicates where the contest possibly is headed unless there are major surprises on the last two days. One prime example among such ‘major surprises’ was witnessed at Lord’s on the final day of the second Test, when India turned the tables around in the matter of a few hours to clinch a massive victory.
But here in the fourth Test being played at The Oval, with the series tantalisingly poised 1-1, India require another massive effort, with the bat and from their weakest line of attack that is their batsmen, if they are to remain in the contest and not lose second match on the trot to England.
And it must be mentioned here that if India lose the ongoing Test against England, the home team will take an unassailable lead in the series and will also remain the proud custodians of the Pataudi Trophy, the one which hasn’t come India’s way since as far back in 2007.
And if India are to win the series as well as this Test match, it is imperative that each of their departments and players perform in unison and produce a combined effort — one that is just not in bits and pieces.
India have been far from being consistent; their batsmen have been found wanting time in again and their bowlers have gone beyond their line of duty to keep the team in the series. They have fought long and hard, even with the bat at times, like at Lord’s in the second Test or in the first innings of this Test — Shardul Thakur’s 57 was the top score for any Indian batsman in this innings.
Back in London albeit at a different venue, The Oval, India have fought well to remain in the contest but the third day will demand a gargantuan effort from their batsmen if they are to move in the direction they want and achieve the results they have been dreaming about.
Yes, winning a series in England has been that difficult for several Indian teams, that it is a dream that is to be lived.
India will start play on the third day of the fourth Test placed at a strong footing of 43/0 from 16 overs, needing another 56 runs to go past England’s first innings lead of 99 runs and add whatever they can in form of an overall target. India will need at least another 250 to 300 runs after going past England’s first innings lead to be sure of at least a draw so that they can take the series into the fifth and final Test at the Old Trafford.
India have done extremely well through their opening pair of Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul who were batting on 20 and 22 respectively at the close of play on Friday after the England batsman made merry despite the absence of Joe Root in the middle.
The England captain was among the three wickets that fell on the first day evening when the home team closed the play at 53/3, trailing by another 138 runs in the first innings. With Root dismissed, there was a strong possibility for England to have been blown away. But one of their batting prodigies, Ollie Pope, stood tall with a splendid innings of 81 and a superb half-century from Chris Woakes, who made 50, gave the home team a lead of 99 runs in the first innings.
Pope consumed 159 balls to make 81 with the help of six boundaries whereas Woakes made his 50 from 60 balls, cracking 11 boundaries in the process. While these two were the batting stars for England on the second day, the others in Jonny Bairstow (37) and Moeen Ali (35) also played a strong part.
Bairstow and Pope added 89 runs for the sixth wicket after England were reduced at 62/5 in the first session. And after the home team lost their wicketkeeper-batsman, Moeen partnered with Pope to add another 71 runs for the seventh wicket which helped England to go past India’s first innings total of 191.
Towards the end, Woakes and Pope added another 28 runs for the eighth wicket whereas the former found strong support from James Anderson to put on another 35 runs for the last wicket, which helped England stretch their lead to 99 runs.
Pope deserved a century but his innings was cut short in a shocking manner when Shardul Thakur had him play one on to his wickets, leaving him shattered for falling only 19 runs close to his century. Woakes and Anderson would also have stretched the lead into triple figures but a direct hit from Jasprit Bumrah resulted in the former getting dismissed after he brought up his maiden fifty against India in Test cricket.
Devarchit Varma is a cricket writer and journalist with an experience of more than a decade, having worked at Hindustan Times (newspaper) and CricketCountry (website). Along with covering international and domestic cricket, he has also interviewed several current and former top players such as Rohit Sharma, Steve Smith, Dale Steyn, Michael Hussey, Jacques Kallis, Brendon McCullum, Shane Watson, Lasith Malinga and many more. He has also worked in other beats as a journalist in Bollywood (Reliance BigOye) and IT (SiliconIndia) industries.
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