India Outplayed: Lose First Test By 227 Rums
Holding an extreme view and carting the ball out of the park is what interests him most. He is a hard hitter at all times. Fasten your seatbelts and read.
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By Slogger
First publised on 2021-02-09 09:33:04
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Holding an extreme view and carting the ball out of the park is what interests him most. He is a hard hitter at all times. Fasten your seatbelts and read.
View all posts by this Author
India lost the first Test with England in Chennai by a massive margin of 227 runs. They were completely outplayed in all departments of the game. Riding high on an away series win against arch rivals Australia, one thought that India would make England toil on home soil. But the shoe was on the other foot as England professionally and clinically made mincemeat of the Indian batsmen in both the innings. The toss did make a difference - England won it and ran up a massive total of 578 runs on a placid wicket. England captain Joe Root was outstanding in his 100th Test match and scored a brilliant 218. He was helped by opener Don Sibley (87), Ben Stokes (82) and the England lower middle order. They treated the Indian bowling with disdain and maintained a healthy run rate of above 3 runs.
When India batted, it seemed the pitch suddenly started spewing fire. Except for Cheteshwar Pujara (73), Rishabh Pant (91), Washington Sundar (85) and Ashwin (31), no one had the temperament to occupy the crease. Shubman Gill (29) once again threw away an excellent start. India were all out for 337 but England did not enforce the follow-on. The Indian bowlers redeemed themselves somewhat by restricting England to just 178 in the seond innings. Ashwin was outstanding and returned figures of 6/61. But once again India allowed the England lower order to add 77 runs. Although it did not matter in the end, India must address this recurring problem of allowing the lower order of the opposition to add invaluable runs to their side's total.
India's second innings was a disaster from the word go. Rohit Sharma failed a second time and Gill showed some brilliance before perishing after his fifty. Pujara was not his usual solid self and England did not allow Pant too many liberties to choke him into making a mistake. First innings hero Sundar went for a duck. While Kohli tried to play a lone hand, he too got out at 72. India could manage only 192. They now have a herculean task in first squaring the series and then hoping to win it. After this loss, their place in the ICC World Test Championship finals is also in jeopardy.
