Rahane gives India the edge

India finished the first day of the second Investec Test Match Series in England at Lord’s with a slight advantage. And most part of the credit goes to Ajinkya Rahane and Bhuvaneshwar Kumar whose rear guard action saved India from humiliation. At stumps India is on 290/9 with Ishant Sharma and Mohammad Shami batting.

Earlier in the day, Alistair Cook won the toss and sent India to bat in the middle of a green pitch. It did pay off as Shikhar Dhawan got out scoring only 7 to an unplayable James Anderson delivery. India shaked off the poor start and at lunch managed to score 73/2. Murali Vijay was the other man to go out before lunch. After lunch England tried to make up their bit not-up-to-mark bowling in the first session as they picked up 4 wickets. India lost Kohli, Pujara, Dhoni and Jadeja in quick succession and was in dire trouble.

In the final session at one stage India was totally down and out on 145/7 when Stuart Binny went out. And it was from where India began to dictate the proceedings. Rahane alongside Bhuvaneshwar Kumar put up a 100-run partnership to take India out of trouble. Rahane, in the process, completed his second century of his career while Kumar missed his third fifty on a row when he got out on 38. Eventually Anderson got better of Rahane (103) when he took an excellent reflex catch off his own bowling to pick up his 4^th on the day. Anderson was undoubtedly the best among the English bowlers picking up 4 wickets. Broad picked up a couple while others Ben Stokes, Liam Plunkett and Moeen Ali got one wicket each.

However at the end of the day the most talked issue turned out to be Alistair Cook’s captaincy who chose to spread the field even when the number eleven was batting with only 3 overs left in the days play. If India manages to win this test match, which is a distant future though, Alistair Cook’s captaincy will surely be put under the scanner for no one can fathom the reason why there was no attacking field set when England had India under their grip.

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About Argha Ghosh

An ardent follower of sports and die-hard Manchester United fan, Argha's ultimate dream is to watch a Manchester derby from the Stretford End at the Old Trafford.