While England’s selection on this tour has become so contorted that their No4 batsman, Moeen Ali, registered a third-ball duck barely an hour after sending down the last of his 53 overs, a spin-bowling all-rounder has emerged for India who could easily be the find of the series.
Jayant Yadav was a name on few lips when England arrived in the country five weeks ago and did not make the first Test in Rajkot. But since his debut a week later in Visakhapatnam, this softly spoken 27-year-old – a gentle Jayant – has quietly gone about becoming the spin bowler the tourists would love to have and the lower-order batsman they would love to see the back of.
On the fourth day in Mumbai, one which left only a few remaining nails to be hammered into the coffin, Yadav stressed this point in his own workmanlike way, becoming the first Indian batting at No9 to score a century in a Test in a match-breaking stand of 241 with Virat Kohli, before ensuring Joe Root’s latest innings would remain yet another half-completed masterpiece after trapping the England vice-captain lbw for 77.
Kohli’s innings will, of course, be the one that those in a near-capacity crowd at the Wankhede Stadium will speak about in years to come.
The India captain, who was once met with chants of “cheat” by the Mumbaikars during an Indian Premier League match in 2013, is now the talk of the city and on Sunday he converted the century that had already consummated this now loving relationship into a career-best 235.
This was the 28-year-old’s third double hundred of 2016 too, making him only the fifth player to achieve that feat in a calendar year.
His sky-rocketing form – and England’s lack of answers to it – means there is a chance he could yet go on to match the four double centuries compiled by Australia’s Michael Clarke in 2012 when the series is completed on the slow, low pitch at Chennai next week. Kohli, however, could not have scaled these heights without the support of his fellow Delhiite Yadav, whose 104 provided the perfect foil.
After being dropped on eight the evening before – and given a further life on 28 when a feather behind went undetected – Yadav offered England little after his resumption in the morning, instead matching his senior partner run for run during a session in which 128 runs were scored to tighten India’s grip on this Test further.
By lunch he was eight short of his hundred, before going on to seal his place in the record books shortly after the interval with a simple nudge through gully off Chris Woakes and experience his own taste of the Wankhede roar.
“To be very honest, when I came out to bat in the morning, I was simply vying for the 50 because I was just 20 runs short,” Yadav said after stumps. “I just went with the flow and things kept happening. They were attacking me more and they had very defensive fields against Virat, so that gave me an opportunity to put away the bad balls. And that’s what I did.”
Having already made a maiden half-century in Mohali, Yadav now has 221 runs in the series – more than any of England’s lower-order batsmen despite this supposed area of strength – while his bounding brand of right-arm orthodox has complemented Ravi Ashwin’s wizardry and the skiddy left-arm darts of Ravi Jadeja.
India had originally gone into the series with a leg-spinner, Amit Mishra, believing it to cover all bases but, with so many left-handers to bowl at in England’s line-up, adding an extra off-spinner has proved a shrewd decision by the selectors.
It followed a ringing endorsement from the India A coach, Rahul Dravid, and completed a patient rise to prominence through his efforts for Haryana in the Ranji Trophy, as opposed to a more glittery path of recognition through performances in the IPL.
Yadav has maintained the pressure exerted by his senior colleagues, Ashwin and Jadeja, and chipped in nine wickets of his own during the series, equal to that of Moeen but 22 runs cheaper apiece. His role is a supporting one, however, something England’s No1 finger spinner may likely be craving after experiencing his heaviest Test workload to date.
