India vs England - 4th Test Match

England had started well in first 2 days - winning the toss, scoring 400 runs in the first innings but the selection of the team has surprised many of us. They have selected 4 seam bowlers & only 2 spinners in the wicket where in 2012, spinners took 19 wickets! Was it a gut feeling of the captain or the management?  

This speaks volumes about the character of this Indian side. They know their strengths well & have executed their plans accordingly with grit & determination. Scoreboard pressure always play an important role in such wickets more. There was a bit of extra bounce & Indian batters had to adjust it quickly. And they did this with ease. England has felt that they are short of an extra spinner since when Vijay & Pujara had started playing after tea in the second day. 

India didn't start their third day well as Pujara got out in the very second ball of the day. Then Kohli came in. And he played a gem of an innings. Kohli means business. And it seems he has spread the virus of aggression, grit, determination & winning mentality among his team members. After Vijay's spectacular innings, suddenly India lost 4 more quick wickets. And they were 40 runs behind when Jayant came into bat. That was the time when England missed the opportunity. Both Virat & Jayant played flamboyantly except couple of miss chances. And on 4th day, with 51 runs lead, India thought of getting whatever they can which will eventually help them to score less in the 4th innings. But as England had only 2 spinners, both Rashid & Moeen were tired of their long spells & they had started bowling loose balls more often which had helped Virat & Jayant to score runs in a faster pace. As a result, India got a lead of huge 231!! Virat scored his double ton- 3rd as a captain. Jayant scored his maiden test hundred. He wouldn't had been expected anything better than scoring this at Wankhede. It was a Sunday & there was a huge crowd to cheer them.  

It was important for England to show positive intent to approach their innings now. But the debutant Keaton Jennings who scored his maiden 100 in the first day has got out in the very 2nd ball of the innings. Bhuvi took the only wicket among the fast bowlers of India in both the innings. Many of us thought that Cook & Root will show the determination to put a price on their wickets. They started well but Virat brought his favorite horses soon. Both Ashwin & Jadeja had started putting pressure from both the ends. And before tea, England lost their 3 important wickets with 49 runs on board. 

During tea, many commentators had started saying that this test is going to finish within 4 days. But Root & Bairstow has played some aggressive shots & they didn't have the option either. They were not well prepared to defense those good balls. It was very clear that if India can get rid of 1 or 2 wickets, rest all will fall soon. And that happened. England were 180/4 & they finished their 2nd innings at 195!! Ashwin took all those last 6 wickets & got 12 in the match.

The difference was in the approach. After scoring 400 in the 1st innings & loosing the game by an iinigs & 36 runs is very rare. And that says that there is something wrong which England is doing at the moment. Yes, they didn't have the world class spinners like Ashwin & Jadeja but as a cricket lover, we would have been happy to see the English cricketers have put a price to their wickets. 

In 2012, England spinners took 19 wickets & this time it is Indian spinners!! So 19 is an important number at Wankhede. And we have to speak about the crowd. BCCI has scheduled the games wisely. The holidays have allowed the passionate spectators to come to the ground to watch their favorite players play. It was a great visual treat & good for test cricket.

Another brilliant left handed opener - Keaton Jennings

He was a South African in the year 2011, played for South African U-19. His father Ray Jennings is a former South African cricketer & current head coach of Royal Challengers Bangalore(RCB) in  IPL. But once he has moved to England in April'2012, he became an English citizen after staying four years in England. And in four years time, with his some brilliant performances, he got his England cap, didn't miss the opportunity to show his caliber after Hasseb Hammed got injured. 

Keaton Jennings, 24, got this opportunity when English Lions are playing in the UAE & Keaton was the captaining the side. He joined the group on Monday & on Thursday, on his debut test match, he scored a brilliant hundred!! It will remind you the story of Alastair Cook, who joined the England side just 48 hours before the start of the first test match in Rajkot in 2006 & scored a hundred! Keaton was the 11th partner of Cook since Andrew Strauss retired 4 years ago. 

And this is an amazing start for Keaton. England is 0-2 down in the series & struggling. People are questioning the way they are approaching & constructing the innings. They are very defensive in their approach since the second test at Vizag. 

 Mumbai is a lucky ground for England. They won in 2006 & 2012. So this time also at Mumbai, they have shown a positive grit & intent. It was very evident the way Cook has approached his innings. And his partner, Keaton Jennings has played beautifully, his defense was very tight, was never in a hurry, never took any risk & was rotating the strike well. 

When Keaton started first, he was a bit late to the fast bowlers & Umesh almost had got his wicket. Had Karun Nair caught him on zero, we had to wait for some more time to watch this beautiful batsman. His intention was clear. He was waiting for the odd loose balls to punish. He never allowed a bowler to dominate him. The way he played against the spinners, was a treat to watch. He always played the ground shots, quite a few of them were sweeps. There was odd bounces in the Wankhede wicket, later Bairstow got out to sweep off Ashwin, couldn't play it down because of the bounce. But Keaton was brilliant, very elegant. He has gelled with the team well & was calm in his approach. With the help of his brilliant hundred, England has got the upper hand in this test match at the end of day-1, in Mumbai, their favorite ground.

I am now waiting for the Song which Barmy Army will compose & sing for him when he comes out to bat in the second innings.

Soft spoken guys outperform - Ravichandran Ashwin's another feat

The son-in-law of superstar Rajnikanth has achieved something which many big names in the world couldn't do - that too in less than 5 years after debut for India in Test cricket. Sachin, Sehwag, Saurav - name as many greats you remember, almost all of them has taken longer time to achieve this feat. 

This all-rounder has received his 6th Man of the Series(MoS) award. And this is at the completion of 13 series & 36 test matches!! In the recent test series at Caribbean, he has scored 235 runs & took 17 wickets. The important innings in this test series was his partnership with Wriddhiman Saha when India lost their top order in the first innings of third test with just 100 odd runs in the board, which could have been changed the scenario of the game & series as West Indies were confident after a great display with bat in the last day of the second test match when they had saved the game. 

Very interestingly he scored all his four centuries against West Indies only!! In this test series he has become the first Indian to score two test hundreds & scalped two five wicket hauls! A great experimenter with the ball, off late is becoming a better batsman day by day which will give Anil Kumble & Indian think tank a chance to play with one extra bowler if needed depending on the wicket conditions. Many critics said that Indian spinners don't get wickets overseas. Earlier this happened with Kumble too. But this performance will keep their mouth shut. 

Although the fourth test was finished almost without playing & Pakistan went to the top of the Test match ranking table after a splendid performance in England this Summer. Still India will cherish this series win in the Caribbean soil. And India has got another good batsman - Wriddhiman Saha who scored an important Test hundred too. Now let us all wait for the T20s in Florida.