What England failed to do, the Indian team did brilliantly, and as a result find themselves in the driver’s seat – not only to win the fourth Test match in Mumbai, but also to take a 3-0 lead in the series.
The tried-tested-and-proven formula to win Test matches in the sub-continent is to win the toss, bat first, post a humongous total on the board, and then put the pressure on the team batting second.
England had the opportunity, did the first two correctly, executed the third one fairly well, but were found lacking when it came to putting pressure on India when they came out to bat.
It was observed in a piece published on The Quint on Friday that at the end of day two, England would be making a mistake if they, after scoring 400 runs in their first innings, were under the impression that they had the match in the kitty.
Strange selections and even stranger strategies employed by the visitors allowed the home team to get into a comfortable position and dictate terms.
At the end of the second day’s play, India were comfortably placed at 146-1, which swelled to 451-7 by the end of day three.
On Sunday, India’s score moved to 631 – thanks to skipper Virat Kohli’s epic innings, an impressive maiden Test century from Jayant Yadav and their record breaking partnership.
It has been a phenomenal year for the Indian captain; his everlasting hunger for runs came to the fore yet again, as he carried on from his overnight score of 147 and brought up his third double century in the format – all three coming in the last six months.
That Virat has improved upon his career best Test score thrice in the last six months establishes his hunger to improve every time he walks out to bat.
The 28-year-old scored his maiden double century in the West Indies in his first Test innings of the year, improved on that with a score of 211 against New Zealand in Indore and then the epic 235 in difficult conditions in Mumbai.
Courtesy his 235 at the Wankhede Stadium, Virat has now become the only player to possess a batting average in excess of 50 in all three formats of international cricket.
While the quantum of runs scored by Virat at the Wankhede Stadium – 235 – is impressive by itself, here are a few things the scorecard will not reveal:
- Virat Kohli’s vigil at the crease lasted 521 minutes – during which period England bowled 127.1 overs.
- In his 340-ball innings, he played a false stroke (was beaten /edged or rapped on the pad) only 39 times – meaning to say he was in control for 89 per cent of his innings. In contrast, the batsman at the other end had a control percentage of 83 per cent.
- A marathon knock like Virat’s 235 calls for a fit individual, and one can’t possibly find a fitter player in Team India than the captain. During his knock that spanned more than four sessions, Virat ran a total of a total of 165 singles (including 93 for his own runs), 34 twos (15 for his own runs) and 5 threes (1 struck off his bat). After that marathon, when it was India’s turn to bowl, Virat led the team on to the field.
Virat Kohli also barged his way into the record books. The Delhi lad’s 235 became the highest score by an Indian batsman in Tests against England (previously held by Vinod Kambli – 224), broke MS Dhoni’s record for the highest score by an Indian captain in Test cricket (224 against Australia).
Virat also joined Michael Clarke (four in 2012) and Brendon McCullum (three in 2014) as the only three captains in Test history to score three double centuries in a calendar year.
While Virat stood firm at one end, Jayant Yadav stonewalled England at the other end and went on to score his maiden Test century – in the process becoming the first Indian batsman batting at number nine to score a ton.
The pair got together in the final session on the third day, and kept the visitors at bay until twenty minutes after lunch. During their association, Virat and Jayant added 241 runs – which was India’s best eighth wicket partnership in Test cricket.
The duo got together at 364-7 – with India still trailing the tourists by 36 runs. When they were separated – after Jayant was dismissed soon after his century, India were sitting pretty at 605-8, with a lead of 205.
The quantum of runs aside, what was also impressive about the partnership between Virat and Jayant was the rate at which they scored the runs. They were seldom troubled by the English bowlers in the morning session on day four, and duly cashed in, scoring 129 runs in 29 overs at a run rate of 4.41.
By the time stumps were drawn at the end of day four, England, in their second outing, had slumped to 182-6 – still trailing India by 49 runs.
Can the England lower order put up resistance like the Indian lower order did and help them save the Test? Or can India force a win? You can follow the final day’s action as it unfolds on our live blog here.