India vs England - Third Test - 24th Feb -25th Feb 2021
Day 2 - Four innings, 30 wickets and just two days - INDIA win
As I mentioned no one knew what was in store on the second day as it was the first time international match is played in this new stadium. The bowlers were on money straight away. At one point it looked like a low scoring T20 match when India got bundled out in no matter of time. I mentioned about Root will be a disruptor bowler if India go well. He was the disruptor who bowled excellent to earn his five for.
So after India got all out, India were back on the match the very first ball and the first over of the innings. It was just drama all over. Axar's five wicket haul in second innings and eleven wickets in a match was an amazing feat. Ashwin's performance once again and this time it was a cherry on the cake by taking his 400th wicket. In Tamil, Ash...Besh...Besh is an apt congrats message. Wow factor player who gained immense confidence from Australia series and at the moment riding on it staying top of the world.
The twists in this match was many more than the Drishyam-2 movie (just one big twist in the movie). If someone was busy and hadn't switched on the tele they will be in awe knowing the outcome of the day. The cricket lovers in the US when they wake up might have thought India is still playing the first innings. Can someone believe that it is a two days test match between the world best teams? In my opinion, the pink ball tests are creating a new format of game called T3 (three days match). I think if the pink ball with hand stitched seam along with the surface and evening weather is causing trouble for the batters. In this rate, either they would stop playing with pink ball or will be forced to make some changes like machine stitched seam. Somehow improve it so that it is neutral to batters and bowlers. The result of the match that brought out a humour calling Team India as "Adelaide 36ers" was due to the reason the pink ball was swinging so late and weather conditions assisting bowlers resulted in a carnage. So there is definitely something about the Pink ball.
In the end 49 runs needed and the honours was done my Rohit and Gill.
Congrats India.
Day 1 - Amplified Anthems and Namaste England
The contrast in team selections, England going with three seamers and India with three spinners set off the exciting day 1 of the third test. Did one of the team manager misread the pitch that lead to wrong composition of bowlers? Well, time will tell. The players walked out and a pensive music was going in my mind at that moment. The National anthems amplified in the world's largest stadium and goosebump moment all around. It was quite a sight to see the players do Namaste to the politicians. They have played domestic tourney match before in this new ground but this momentous day was chosen to rename the stadium in the name of the Indian Prime Minister unveiled by the President of India.
Zak Crawley played a magnificent innings and he was the only player who knew to play the spin attack. The English players long frequent walks from and to pavilion commenced and A's of team India ( Ashwin and Axar) took control of the innings. Second time in a row England didn't select Dom Bess which was a big surprise. Also for the second time, Virat didn't have the necessity to use the third spinner Washington again and rested completely to bat which is a bonus.
Ashwin brought momentum straight away to the game which encouraged and ignited Axar at the other end. Axar bagged 6 for as his career best bowling figures surpassing his previous best of 5/60. Axar is definitely shaping up as a very good test cricket spinner inspired by Ashwin an experienced hand. In the hind sight, I think Nadeem was given an opportunity as it was the first test of the series and selectors had solid Plan B to get Axar in. It didn't work for Nadeem but I think he should be given few more opportunities and no bowler should end their test career playing just one test match.
In my preview blog (below), I mentioned about an option to get the opponent out cheaply in the first innings. This opportunity was well executed by Team India today. England's mere 112 out of which 53 by Zak has exposed their weakness in the batting line up which requires big mend. England team in their last four innings hasn't scored 200 collectively. Question that comes to mind is, is the rotation of players policy unsettling the team? England looks bamboozled against Indian spin attack after their first innings in the first test played at Chennai. I voiced my scepticism earlier that England was resting good players of spin during early phase of the test series (Bairstow was one). Question: Is it because of many T20 tournaments or too much of cricket in a year is driving to manage crazy workload of the players?
The only hope for England is to see if Anderson and Broad can do some reverse swing with good pace support from Jofra. Leach has big responsibility on his shoulder to fire in a hostility line and length. If India get going, Stokes and Root will have to bowl few as disruptors. Before India started, the question in mind was Can England get India all out for 76 which is their lowest score in this ground (not really this ground but at this geographical location)?
The only thing that wasn't in contrast today was, one down players (Bairstow and Pujara) from both the teams scored a duck. Another one was both the openers scored fifties. Fantastic half century by Rohit and he is going from strength to strength.
The day 2 is exciting because there was no test played before on this new ground and no one really knows how the pitch is going to play.
Please come back to read my Day 2 Blog. Many Thanks.
Test Preview
World's largest cricket stadium at Motera, Ahmedabad is the venue. It is a spectacle architected by MCG's architect with a capacity of 110,000 seats, all around unobstructed view having four dressing rooms, two pavilions and 76 corporate boxes. It took 4.5 years to renovate which started in 2015. Built with sub-surface drainage which can drain rain water from the outer field in thirty minutes. The stadium will be illuminated with state of art lighting system for the day-night clash. Can't wait to watch.
The old stadium witnessed many records especially significant milestones of Indian legends. Sunil Gavaskar's 10,000 test runs (1987) and Kapil Dev's record breaking 432 wickets (1994) to surpass Richard Hadlee records were engraved in Ahmedabad. During the early days, it was bowler friendly and later the track slowed down and turned into batsman delight. The new stadium now have 11 pitches beating MCG which contains only 7 pitches.
The eleven pitches contains a mix of Black clay and Red clay surfaces. The red clay pitches favours seam and swing bowling. The black clay pitches assist batters and uneven bounce from day 3 to day 5. So there is definitely something in store for spinners in black clay pitch. The team selection will depend on the surface that is offered for the match I think.
Here is a prediction from my gutsometer based on the stats from the past:
The highest innings score from the old ground is 760/7 by Srilanka in 2009. The lowest innings score is 76 by India against South Africa. The highest score by a batsman is 275 (probably black clay pitch). Most number of wickets in an innings is by Kapil Dev 9/83 (probably red clay pitch). Home team have won four times and away teams won two times.
If it is a red clay pitch with grass then my predictions are:
Rohit, Gill, Pujara, Virat, Rahane, Pant, Ashwin, Axar, Bumrah, Ishant and Umesh.
Burns, Sibley, Crawley, Root, Stokes, Bairstow, Foakes, Bess, Anderson, Broad, Wood/Archer
Anderson/Broad five for
Bumrah/Ishant five for
Gill/Pujara highest scorer for India
Stokes/Crawley highest scorer for England
It may be good to bowl first in a a red clay pitch with grass.
England favourites.
Black clay:
Rohit, Gill, Pujara, Virat, Rahane, Pant, Ashwin, Axar, Bumrah, Ishant and Washington Sundar/Kuldeep
Burns, Sibley, Crawley, Root, Stokes, Bairstow, Foakes, Bess, Anderson, Broad, Leach
Bess/Leach five for
Ashwin/Axar five for
Virat/Rohit highest scorer for India
Bairstow/Butler highest scorer for England
It may be good to bat first in a black clay pitch.
Kuldeep may be useful as left arm bowler to fill in the shoes of Pragyan Ojha who bowled well against England in the old venue.
India favourites.
Milestones to watch out:
Ashwin's 400 wickets
Ishant's 100th match
Can Anderson equal Kumble's record of 619 wickets? Anderson is on 611 wickets now.
The toss based decision will not be straight forward as the teams have an option to field first if it is a red clay pitch with grass and aim to get out the opponent cheaply in the first innings. The pink ball can be a challenge among other factors such as pitch condition, batting in twilight and dew for bowlers late evening etc.
It is going to be a cracker as the best teams is set to play their physical and mental games session after session.
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