Team India had renewed hope coming into this match, with the selectors making a positive decision to leave out Shikar Dhawan and bringing in the experienced Gautam Gambhir. Ravichandaran Ashwin and Varun Aaron had also been selected, as Mohammed Shami and Rohit Sharma made way.
However, the false sense of security following those decisions did not last long. After winning the toss, captain MS Dhoni strangely decided to have a bat first on a decent bowling track with overcast conditions. As expected, the wrong decision proved very costly, as India were bowled out for merely 152 runs.
In reply, England made 367 runs, and gained a gigantic lead of over 200 runs, giving themselves the initiative in the match. Although spells from Bhuvuneshwar Kumar and Varun Aaron helped India get rid of the middle order top and middle order fairly quickly, once again India were unable to get rid of either Joe Root or Jos Buttler before the damage had been done, as the pair excelled at the crease together, forming a formidable partnership rescuing England as well as ensuring they got a noteworthy lead.
England lost in form seamer Stuart Broad when a Varun Aaron bouncer snuck through his helmet and hit him right in the nose, meaning Cook would have to continue without one of his premier fast bowlers. Keeping this in mind, along with the decent batting conditions, it looked as though India could set a good score in the 3rd innings, but that never happened.
Team India's opening stance was once again a small one, with Murali Vijay getting out to a Chris Woakes delivery. Although Pujara and Gambhir seemed to have weathered the storm after his dismissal, as the two played 91 deliveries combined, both got out on fairly cheap scores. Pujara might have been deemed unlucky to have been given out leg before on a delivery which was definitely missing leg stump, however he once again underestimated Moeen Ali, as did most of the other batsman.
Following the dismissals of Gambhir and Pujara, Kohli and Rahane walked in. Kohli, who had been in a torrid form of late, would have been hoping for a big score as always. Rahane, on the other end, had shown great maturity throughout this series, but his one downfall had been Moeen Ali, who once again dismissed him. Kohli edged to slip off a Jimmy Anderson ball once again, and both bastman were dismissed very quickly. Jadeja was also found guilty of playing a bad shot to a Moeen Ali ball. After that, it was just a matter of time and the Indian batting order were sent back as quickly as they came in.
Now, with a do-or-die situation in their hands, Duncan Fletcher and his coaching staff will need to work very hard to ensure that the middle order does not collapse again. The collapse has been happening throughout the series, but so far innings like Vijay's or Rahane's in the previous tests have covered this up.
Fletcher and the selectors did make some encouraging changes in the side, as the inclusions of Gambhir, Ashwin and Aaron all reaped rewards in some way. Gambhir spent more time on the pitch than Dhawan ever could, Aaron showcased his brilliance and Ashwin shined with the bat, getting scores of 40 and 46* in 2 innings. The team must take the positives from this match, no matter how hard it might be, and move on. With the team needing a win to draw the series in the final clash, Fletcher has a lot of work to do, especially with the middle order (Kohli especially) and the fielding in the slip cordons.
Written by Mayank Tiwary.
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