Leonardo da Vinci may have been a thinker way ahead of his time but when he said: “It is easier to resist at the beginning than at the end,” it is fair to surmise that he was not contemplating a Test match in India in the 21st century.
Even so, he was on to something Ben Stokes and Jonny Bairstow, renaissance men of the north in their own way, might appreciate. In India the time to resist, to pile up the runs and to suck up the overs, is in the first innings, preferably the first half of that innings.
England signally failed to do that on Friday afternoon and while Stokes and Bairstow battled hard throughout most of the morning session on Saturday in a partnership of 110, there will still have to be unprecedented resistance later in the match for England to avoid heading north to Chandigarh 1-0 down in the series. At the close India, bolstered by a 200-run first-innings buffer, were 98 for three. One does not have to be a Da Vinci to calculate the overall lead.
But it could have been worse. Even before a ball had been bowled there was an alarm for England. Bairstow came into the arena alongside Stokes skipping like a boxer entering the ring. Here was a visible indication that he was up for the fray. The only trouble was that he tripped on his own feet, stumbled and then had to retreat sheepishly to the medics in the dressing room for a quick checkup. His second entry was undertaken more gingerly (I refer to his knee, so no pleas for political correctness, please) but no ill-effects were visible when he started batting.
Both men settled against the pacemen and there were few demons for them once the spinners had been summoned up by the India captain, Virat Kohli. Bairstow was busy, quick to sweep, which he did effectively, while Stokes remained a model of self-denial. But there were still captivating moments in Stokes’s innings such as five overthrows, the sweetest cover drive off Ravi Ashwin and a majestic pull against Umesh Yadav.
The pitch was behaving better than the pundits had predicted, the odd ball keeping low, the odd one turning sharply yet it was never as devious as Dhaka. But with lunch in sight Bairstow was castled by Umesh Yadav as he tried to clip a full-length delivery through the leg side. That was a Bairstow weakness in his first coming as England player, less so in this annus mirabilis.
After lunch Adil Rashid was company for Stokes and no passenger. He hit three fours in an over when Umesh Yadav had the new ball in his hand and was in impish mood. So Kohli switched to his spinners again and this time they prevailed.
Stokes had defended with great authority against the slow men, his most obvious advance as a batsman in the last 12 months, but now he pushed forward to Ashwin and he was given out. Stokes reviewed without conviction. If there was an edge he was caught at silly-point but no edge was proven. However the telltale three reds were on the screen for the lbw shout. This 70 was further confirmation of Stokes’ maturity as a batsman, though Englishmen at home – and abroad – must hope that he bats more often in situations which allow him to follow his aggressive instincts.
Zafar Ansari, less understandably, reviewed his lbw decision as well. As if in haze, he missed a straight ball from Ravindra Jadeja and the haze remained long enough for him to ask for a second opinion. This meant that there was no review available for Stuart Broad when he was the recipient of a dodgy lbw decision from umpire Kumar Dharmasena against Ashwin – the ball would have missed the leg stump. However there was no doubt about Jimmy Anderson’s lbw next ball. Thus Ashwin, rejuvenated and animated, had his first five-wicket haul against England – for 67 runs. Four of those victims were left-handers, which might be of interest to England when they consider their side for the third Test.
There was no surprise, not even from the old timers when India declined to enforce the follow-on. Given the grave reports of overnight there was more surprise when Broad eagerly grabbed the new ball – his strained tendon in his right foot may keep him from playing in Mohali but England confirmed later that he would continue to bowl on Sunday.
Broad delivered one of his most potent spells in India, which has not been a happy hunting ground for him. He needed some help from the third umpire as Rod Tucker in the middle was having one of those Dharmasena’s spells. He failed to spot an inside edge on to the pad of Murali Vijay, which was caught in the gully. Much more forgivably there was a feathered catch to the keeper from KL Rahul, which Bairstow and Alastair Cook were unsure about behind the stumps. However Broad, Stokes at mid-on and an alert Haseeb Hameed at short leg heard something.
Soon after Anderson bowled Cheteshwar Pujara with an in-ducker but Kohli put a stop to any more nonsense with a stream of drives. He is batting on a different plane to his colleagues; he is the sleekest of jets to their Sopwith Camels.
So England have a match to save and the odds are that this is way beyond them. They will focus on Mohali only when this game is over but when they do there will be changes afoot. Chris Woakes will surely return in place of a rotated Broad. However rotation may not be the right description of the fate that may be awaiting Ansari and Ben Duckett.
They may yet do something of significance in this match but if not their places are in jeopardy. Ansari has had a difficult match so far which has been made worse by stomach problems. On Saturday he missed a straight ball and was not invited to bowl. Duckett has been tormented by off-spinners out here and Jos Buttler is becoming an increasingly likely option partly because he is right-handed and partly because there is no one else.
