Test cricket fans are funny folk. As long as there is an outcome of the game, everything seems hunky-dory with the game’s cherished format. It helps, of course, if your team is on the winning side more often than not. Then, small aspects like turn and bounce from day one and two do not matter.
One is referring to the recently concluded three-Test series against New Zealand, which India duly won 3-0. Those were three fantastic pitches – especially the one in Kolkata. Everyone – batsmen, pacers and spinners – had equal chances on those wickets, and all players had to shine on the basis of their ability, not just help from the pitch in question.
It was unlike the South Africa series, where raging turners were the norm. That was not Test cricket, wherein the balance between bat and ball is so heavily skewered. The New Zealand series exhibited proper Indian pitches and the home team had to work hard for its win. It was an intriguing contest despite what the scoreline might suggest.
Death of Test cricket?
Back then, or even a year go when the Proteas were blanked 3-0, no Indian fan proclaimed the death of Test cricket as was perhaps rife on social media during this first match against England. Maybe there were some complaints from the South African fans, especially those who paid good money to visit India at the same time.
The underlying point being that Test cricket gives you all sorts of tracks, and it is a joyous extension of this format that we get to sample different performances from the same players on different days.
South Africa can struggle here, but given the right conditions, they can make bunnies out of Australia in their own den. England can crumble within a session in Dhaka, but one match later, they are able to showcase the strength of their lengthy batting line-up.
India can very well destroy visiting batsmen’s confidence for two successive home series, but on an unwavering pitch, their bowlers – including the world’s best spinner – can be humbled too.
So no, the Rajkot wicket is not a Test killer. These 22 yards, probably cut away from the Jamnagar highway outside the stadium, are just cricket’s way of balancing out things. Equilibrium, with time, is the beauty of this format. It cuts out the monotony of One-Day Internationals and Twenty20 Internationals, particularly the latter, that follow the same script on belters time and again.
Sure, the argument can be that getting a result on the fifth day here looks improbable. That, however, is not true to a certain extent.
Result still possible
At stumps, England were ahead by 163 runs. Nineteen-year-old Haseeb Hameed played a brilliant hand to get them into this position. It was interesting that Virat Kohli gave the new ball to Ravindra Jadeja, for there was ample rough outside the leg-stump at the pavilion end. Still, the left-arm spinner couldn’t get the desired purchase.
When Hameed – who went on to become the first English teenager to score a Test half-century after Dennis Compton in 1937 – smacked Jadeja for a six, it broke through Kohli’s resolution to test England. Immediately, the close-in fielders were reduced to two from four, and it was a matter of saving some runs. Yes, the pitch still hadn’t worn down enough and this moment, this six, was the true indicator of the same.
At this juncture, calculations come in. England scored 114/0 in the post-tea session that spanned 37 overs. Assuming they can double this score in the next 37 overs, it would mean a lead of 277 runs approximately halfway into the second session on Sunday. With a mind to set up a declaration, it can also be assumed that they will try to up the scoring.
A target of 300 in, say, one-and-a-half sessions, about 45 overs on an unwavering pitch might just help the people of Rajkot to forget their cash troubles for one day and head to the stadium.
“We just have to see what we can do tomorrow. I think, on this pitch, if we are facing 220 in the last session, maybe we can make a go for it,” opined Murali Vijay. He was also full of praise for R Ashwin and Wriddhiman Saha, who added 64 runs, and helped reduce the deficit to England until it was only 49. It was the most crucial period of play, especially after Ajinkya Rahane and Virat Kohli found ways to get out cheaply and off-tracked India’s plans to bat deep into day four.
Ashwin-Saha came together when India were still 176 runs behind. A lower-order collapse would have been disastrous for the hosts, and this partnership avoided just that. That Alastair Cook dropped Mohammed Shami, enabling him to add 29 runs with Ashwin, helped the Indians further.
The English captain missed a great chance to put the opposition under more pressure. His side could have very well been 180-odd ahead by now, and thus could have induced a little more time on day five to set a target and bowl at Indian batsmen.
Perhaps this is the one negative of this Rajkot pitch. Ahead of an intriguing final day, there is a lot of room for permutations and combinations as to which direction the match would head to, but there is no surety.
Ironically, it depends not on the pitch, but solely on how adventurous Cook and his teammates might be feeling. They have worked hard over the last four days after the reversal against Bangladesh. Will they want to take a punt and push India?
Brief score
England 537 (Ben Stokes 128, Joe Root 124, Moeen Ali 117; Ravindra Jadeja 3/86, Mohammed Shami 2/65, R Ashwin 2/167) lead India 488 (Murali Vijay 126, Cheteshwar Pujara 124; Adil Rashid 4/114, Zafar Ansari 2/77, Moeen Ali 2/85) by 49 runs.