Just 33.4 overs of cricket was possible on Day 2 before bad light, followed by rain, put an end to the proceedings. Having resumed the day on 21/0, Rohit Sharma (36) and K.L. Rahul (57*) stretched the opening stand to 97. India would have eyed a big lead at that point, and yet – they finished the day on 125/4. They still trail by 58, with Rahul and Rishabh Pant at the crease, and a second collapse may result in them conceding a lead instead.
England began with James Anderson (2-15) and Ollie Robinson (1-32). Both bowled to a good length outside off, and with Rohit and Rahul content to defend, runs came in a trickle. But when Robinson bowled one on middle-stump, just short of a length, Rohit immediately swivel-pulled him. Or when Robinson pitched up, he hit him back, down the ground.
Rahul opened up as well, and as Anderson came off, so did the slips, and the batters grew bolder in their strokeplay. Rahul played a delectable cover drive off Sam Curran for four – against a ball he would probably have left alone in the first hour of play. Perhaps buoyed by that shot, he cover drove Stuart Broad for four as well.
Broad continued to probe outside off, and Rahul picked up two boundaries through the slips cordon, thinned considerably over the first hour. Neither shot came off the middle of the bat.
And then, in the last over before lunch, Robinson bounced. Rohit impulsively went for the hook, mistimed, and was caught at deep fine-leg.
That opened the floodgates, albeit after lunch. Robinson trapped Cheteshwar Pujara leg-before, but the review revealed that it would have gone over the stumps. And then came Anderson…
The second ball moved in the air, into Pujara, pitched on off, and moved just enough off the pitch to take the edge. Jos Buttler held it low.
The cheer silenced into a hush, for Virat Kohli’s arrival evoked memories of many a duel between the two over years. Somewhat anticlimactically, this time it lasted one ball. Kohli played slightly away from his body, and Buttler took his second catch in two balls.
The cheer was louder this time.
Ajinkya Rahane got off the mark with a rarity – an all-run four. A direct hit would have got him, but Dan Lawrence’s throw was off the mark. Jonny Bairstow’s was not. Rahane had set off for a run when Rahul played the ball to backward point. Rahul responded, but not in time, and Bairstow found him short. India had lost four wickets for 15 runs.
Rishabh Pant started with an unconventional horizontal-batted shot off Anderson, over cover for three. In the same over, Dom Sibley dropped Rahul at second slip.
Pant then cover-drove Broad for four. Rahul matched Pant’s stroke, but it did not take long for the light to deteriorate after that.
Brief scores: England 183 (Joe Root 64; Jasprit Bumrah 4-46) lead India 125/4 (K.L. Rahul 57*; James Anderson 2-15) by 58 runs.