DHARAMSALA: India took a scenic route to a dominant position in the Dharamsala Test, batting on day two to amass a 255-run lead over England with two wickets still standing. Hundreds for Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill, fifties for Sarfaraz Khan and debutant Devdutt Padikkal as India’s top order contributed to a formidable total in the shadow of Dhauladhar. Not even some Ben Stokes magic with the ball could reverse England’s fortunes. Stokes claimed the wicket of Rohit with his first delivery of the series, having not bowled competitively since the second Test of last year’s Ashes.
A sharply swung ball that hit Rohit’s stumps as he resumed the innings after the lunch break not only ended the 171 for the second wicket but added to the list of what could have been for England on this tour. When Stokes returned after 251 days to fulfill his status as an all-rounder, England’s attack held on manfully in calm conditions. But they were let down by some sloppy moments in the field, which included Stokes dropping Sarfaraz on his follow-through from a delivery that was subsequently called a no-ball.
Shoaib Bashir has again impressed, providing both resilience and top quality despite still suffering the effects of a stomach bug that has limited his involvement in the build-up. His 44-over stint more than matched the first innings at Ranchi for his longest in first-class cricket, and had Zak Crawley not missed a sharp chance at leg slip when Rohit was on 68, Bashir could have been celebrating a second five in just his third Test. Then, in Bashir’s final over of the day, Stokes bowled Kuldeep Yadav in the slips as the ninth-wicket Indian pair successfully reached the close.
A quiet morning session for India in which they added 129 without loss was followed by Rohit’s dismissal, which saw Gill flatten his stumps and James Anderson bagged his 699th Test wicket to give England something to rally around. The lead at this stage was 61, but any sense of opportunity for England was dashed by another bright partnership between the two batsmen going forward. Padikkal, at No. 4, initially found the boundary with regularity while Sarfaraz crept in. After moving cautiously to 9 off 30 balls, Sarfaraz went through the gears with a flurry of attacking shots to bring up his third Test half-century.
Mark Wood was sent into the crowd before Sarfaraz took on Tom Hartley with the second new ball as India stretched their lead past 150 at tea. England struck again right after the break, Bashir had Sarfaraz caught at slip trying to cut the first ball back. Padikkal nonchalantly lifted the English lad for a six over long on to bring up his first fifty, but even he couldn’t continue as Bashir caught him at the crease with one that spun and hit the top of the off-stump.
Dhruv Jurel fired to give Bashir his fourth and Hartley then struck twice in the following over, pinned lbw by Ravindra Jadeja before R Ashwin played around one that continued with the arm. By this stage the outline of the day was as clear as the hills in the background, India made the climb without breaking much of a sweat. The pair both scored their second hundreds of the series overnight – Rohit’s 12th overall, Gill’s fourth in Tests – as the home side tightened their grip on the match.
