England captain Ben Stokes is under fire after fluent half-centuries by KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja have given India control of the opening Test against England at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium.
India, who have not lost a Test series at home since 2012, finished day two on a commanding 7-421 in their robust reply to England’s middling 246 in the first innings.
Jadeja was on 81 at stumps on Friday having raised 63 runs with Axar Patel, who was still there on 35.
England came into the match with three spinners – veteran Jack Leach, and rookies Rehan Ahmed and Tom Hartley – with Mark Wood their only fast bowler and with Stokes unable to bowl due to injury, they couldn’t make a dent in India’s batting.
UK Telegraph cricket correspondent Scyld Berry said Stokes had made a rare error of judgement in sticking by Ahmed and Hartley when they were being plundered.
“Ben Stokes as England’s captain has not, for once, made the best of a bad job,” he wrote.
(Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)
“Stokes inflexibly and unpragmatically persisted with the same tactics for his raw spin attack while India sailed past England’s modest 246 and the first Test was, to all intents, lost.
“Stokes’s man-management strategy is admirable: to back his players to the hilt. But the time comes, for young players in general and young spinners in particular, when they need to be given more protection: specifically, in this instance, a long-on or long-off, and sometimes both.
“As it was, the moment soon arrived in India’s first innings when Stokes was bowling two spinners in tandem and it was six of one, half-a-dozen of the other: or rather six runs off an over at one end, half-a-dozen off the next at the other.”
Stokes also erred with his reviews, burning all three in rapid succession.
“So zealous was Stokes in willing his bowlers to succeed that he used up all three of England’s reviews in the first 14 overs. It was touching in a way, how selflessly Stokes wanted his young charges to succeed,” Berry added.
“But after charging ‘once more unto the breach’, and then again, and again, there comes a moment for a more defensive approach. Otherwise, when it is men against boys, there will only ever be one winner.”
Former England captain Mike Atherton also believes England’s spinners are not up to the task, saying part-time tweaker Joe Root looked their most effective bowler.
“The problem for England — and in the context of this long tour it may be a big problem — is that Root has looked England’s most threatening spinner,” he wrote in The Times.
“It transpired that Leach had jarred his left knee in the field, not badly enough to prevent him from bowling or taking his place on the field, but badly enough to require tender handling. What it meant was that, with Hartley and Rehan showing their inexperience — shipping 236 runs between them in 48 overs at 4.91 runs per over — and Wood even more sparingly used, Stokes was operating on the slenderest of resources.”
After India resumed day two on 1-119, England opened with Root, who dismissed the dangerous-looking Yashasvi Jaiswal (80) in his first over.
Jaiswal hit Root’s second ball for a four but, two balls later, offered a high return catch to Root, who leapt to pouch the ball.
Rahul got a reprieve when Ben Foakes grassed a tough chance behind the stumps after the batter, yet to open his account, had edged Root.
Root was unlucky again when Shubman Gill miscued a shot but Stokes, stationed at mid-off, lost sight of the ball against the sun.
Root was taken off the attack after four overs in a move as surprising as England’s decision of not bowling him on Thursday when Jaiswal was toying with the England spinners.
Hartley had particularly suffered at the hands of Jaiswal but the left-arm spinner put that agony behind him and dismissed Gill (23) for his first wicket in international cricket.
Rahul smacked two sixes in a Rehan over to put India in the lead and forged half-century partnerships with Shreyas Iyer (35) and Jadeja to consolidate India’s position.
Leg-spinner Ahmed removed Iyer with Hartley taking the catch in the deep.
The roles were reversed as the English duo combined again to dismiss Rahul, who threw his bat in disgust after pulling a Hartley half-tracker to Ahmed when a hundred seemed there for the taking.
Jadeja, who added 68 with Srikar Bharat (41) for the sixth wicket, celebrated his eventful half-century twirling the bat in his signature sword-dance style.
The allrounder was twice adjudged out – first caught at short leg off Leach and then lbw to Root – but both decisions were overturned on review.
Jadeja was also involved in an almighty mix-up that led to Ravichandran Ashwin’s run-out after both batters ended up at the same end.
with AAP
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