KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja kept the England bowlers at bay as India dominated yet another session in the ongoing first Test in Hyderabad. A belligerent effort batting at No. 4 from Rahu and Jadeja’s measured aggression carried India to 309 for five at tea for a slender yet significant lead against the hosts. India were 63 runs ahead of the visitors at the end of the second session, with Jadeja (45*) and KS Bharat (9*) manning the crease.
Despite an outright dominance with the bat, none of India’s set frontline batters score a hundred. Rahul top-scored with 86 off 123-balls with imperious timing and meticulous shot-selection. The way he dealt with the leg-spin of Rehan Ahmed was breathtaking, biffing him for two sixes in the space of four balls.
Rahul moved closer to the ball and deposited it over the sight-screen for the first maximum, and then rocked back to smoke an absolute pie over mid-wicket for another six. It was total domination from a batter who showed the right kind of technique to negate a slightly tacky pitch. But all the hard work was undone when Rahul pulled a half-tracker by left-arm spinner Tom Hartely to pick Ahmed, the lone fielder in the deep at mid-wicket. He also missed a chance to achieve the rare feat of scoring a hundred in the 50th Test. But Jadeja’s ability to manage risks effectively kept India on the hunt.
Shreyas Iyer (35) offered a similar story. The right-hander scratched around for a good part of his 63-ball stay and seemed to have weathered the storm, especially against pacer Mark Wood who tested him with a slew of short-pitched deliveries.
But Shreyas let the opportunity to build on slip away when he played a slog sweep of Ahmed to give a simple catch to Hartley at deep mid-wicket and the Mumbaikar will need efforts with more substance to fight for his place when Virat Kohli returns from the third Test.
India made 87 runs in the middle passage of the day, losing two wickets, and it would have been even tougher for India had the England bowlers been more consistent with their lines and lengths in this period.
Though slow in nature, there was enough spin to exploit in the pitch. But apart from part-timer Joe Root, the three first-choice spinners could not really manage to deny scoring avenues for the Indian batters.
Earlier, India made an inauspicious start to the day, losing overnight batter Yashasvi Jaiswal (80) in the fourth ball of the morning’s first over. He smashed a four through long-on in the second ball of that over but his attempt for an encore two balls later resulted in a tame return catch to Root.
Shubman Gill (23), the other overnight batter, too could not kick on as his attempt to swat Hartley ended in the hands of Ben Duckett at mid-wicket, giving the left-arm spinner his maiden Test wicket.
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