India vs England, 5th Test, Day 2: India surge 255 runs ahead of England, end day at 473-8. Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill scored hundred for India. Session-wise Day 2 highlights.
Brief Scores: IND 473/8 (Gill 110, Rohit 103, Bashir 4/170) leads ENG 218 (Crawley 79, Kuldeep 5/72, Ashwin 4/51) by 255 runs at Stumps on Day 2.
India drove home the advantage on the second day of the Dharamsala Test with their batters making the best use of the batting conditions and possibly batted England out of the game.
England bowlers had their moments on a day where India added 338 runs but the centuries from skipper Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill ensured the hosts are in a touching to claim yet another comfortable win at home.
Talking Point from India vs England, 5th Test, Day 2
India’s weakness throughout the series has been their batting line-up. It is largely inexperienced barring Rohit Sharma at the top. They needed their skipper to hold the batting together and he did that with ease with his sublime 103 from 162 balls.
His 174-run stand with Gill, who scored his second ton of the series made sure India is en route to claim a pole position.
Read More: IND vs ENG, 5th Test, Day 1: Kuldeep 5-72 stunts England to 218, India 135 -1 in response
Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill pile misery on English bowlers in the first session
Team India had a fabulous day 1 at Dharamsala with the opening batters Rohit and Yashasvi Jaiswal backing up the good work of their bowlers. The hosts started day 2 at 135/1 and the second wicket pairing of Rohit and Shubman Gill wiped off the trail in real quick time. India, in the first hour of play, accumulated 67 runs with Gill reaching yet another half-century.
The pair didn’t slow down as they brought up their 100-run stand in just 149 balls and took on the inexperienced spinners and pacers alike on a very good batting track. Both reached their respective centuries before the lunch break as India rapidly gained ascendency having accumulated 129 runs in the 30-over period.
England pacers strike but India’s inexperienced duo build a considerable lead
Post the break, India lost both its century makers in quick succession giving the visitors room for a comeback. Ben Stokes, who hadn’t bowled a delivery in this series thus far, bowled a peach to send back his opposite number while Anderson got his 699th scalp in Test cricket.
But Sarfaraz Khan playing his third Test and Devdutt Padikkal (on Test debut) handled the tough period quite positively. Especially, Padikkal was severe on any loose balls on offer and never looked out of place or in pressure.
The duo brought up their 50-run stand in mere 76 balls and Sarfaraz brought up his third fifty-plus score in 5 Test innings as India went into Tea at 376/3.
England take flurry of wickets post-tea after India batters make enough damage
In what could be a carbon copy of the second session of play, India lost quick wickets coming from the break. Sarfaraz Khan (56) who looked in ominous touch, lost his wicket in the first ball post tea and Devdutt Padikkal followed the similar suit after bringing up his debut Test fifty. Shoaib Bashir who took both wickets sent back last match hero Dhruv Jurel, while Hartley accounted for the Jadeja-Ashwin duo as India slipped from 376/3 to 428/8.
Though England made a mini-comeback of sorts, the damage was already done. Adding to the agony, the ninth wicket pairing of Kuldeep & Bumrah went into stumps with an unbroken 45-run stand. India are 255 runs ahead in the first innings with 2 more wickets in hand.
What’s to come
England’s Bazball has hibernated as the series progressed and Day 3 could be the perfect time to bring it back. However, it isn’t going to be easy against a potent Indian spin attack despite the good batting conditions.
India will look to add as many runs as possible to bat only once and make inroads into the England line-up for one last time.
Statistical highlights from Day 2 of the fifth Test
Rohit Sharma has now scored 9 Test centuries for India in the World Test Championship, the most by any India batter. Shubman Gill joins Virat Kohli as the second-highest century maker for India in WTC (4).
Rohit now has 43 international centuries as an opener going past Chris Gayle (42) in the process. Only Sachin Tendulkar (45) and David Warner (49) are ahead of him.
Since 2019, the Indian skipper has had the highest number of centuries as an opener in Tests (9). Dimuth Karunaratne has 8 tons while Warner had made 5 in the period.
Shubman Gill has crossed the 4000-run mark in FC cricket. It has taken him 90 innings to reach this milestone.
Rohit Sharna and Shubman Gill, both reached 400 runs mark in the series with their respective century-plus knocks. This is the first time Gill has achieved this feat in his Test career.
Devdutt Padikkal registered his maiden Test half-century in what was his debut innings in the format.
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