New Delhi, Tuesday, December 20 – Nothing could have been great entertainment than what cricket fans witnessed a day ago. Karun Nair stole the show completely. Hardly a few would have thought what this young man is going to present on Day 4 of the final Test, which was viewed by scores of people at MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Monday.
Post resuming his play at a score of 71 runs, Karun Nair did not stop till the end of the day. Murali Vijay started to bat at 17 runs but soon lost his wicket to Liam Dawson. His innings ended at a score of 29, which consisted of four boundaries. KL Rahul’s innings of 199 runs facing 311 balls was fresh in mind. The opener though missed hitting a double century by a single, he caught the eyeballs for striking 16 boundaries and three biggies. But what was missed by an inch by Rahul was attained by Nair, adding to trouble for England.
Ravichandran Ashwin took time to open his account. But as soon as a single was taken, he began to display confident show. Six fours and a biggie from him in his knock of 67 runs off 149 balls took total India quite up. Nair and Ashwin partnership was broken by Broad thanks to an astounding catch by Jos Buttler, leaving no option for Ashwin but to go back to the dressing room. The next-man to arrive on the crease was Ravindra Jadeja, who well supported Nair by running for singles and hitting the shots on weaker deliveries. At a time when Nair was reaching at different milestones, Jadeja scored 51 runs off 55 balls (4 x 1 and 6 x 2). In an attempt to hit the ball for a six in Dawson’s over, his catch was taken by Ball in the deep. By this time, Nair was just a run away from becoming the second inly Indian to get a triple century.
Umesh Yadav changed the strike. The crowd was super excited to see Nair standing on the verge of reaching another benchmark. England captain Alaistair Cook guided his men to stop the single and let Nair take risk of playing shots, hoping that this might give them wicket of the 25-year-old Nair. And Nair went for a fearless boundary. At a point, it seemed as if the ball is going to be caught but soon it touched the fences. Nair batted for the entire day and was not out at a mammoth total of 303 runs. A round of applause from the cricketers and viewers was also given to the youngster who displayed an outstanding show, keeping the calm and momentum of gaining runs up. On the other hand, Yadav was not out at 1 run. India declared innings at 759 runs for the loss of seven wickets. This total is the highest Test score by the Indian team.
Nair was quick in reaching from 250 runs to 280 runs. If truth be told then many wouldn’t have thought that a ton can be converted in a double century and further into triple ton on a single day but Nair made history yesterday, proving once again that nothing is impossible when one is so determined to achieve something. Nair alone scored over 100 runs in one session, which is unique in its own ways. Cook’s keenness to get wickets can be understood from the fact that he went with eight bowling options. Stuart Broad and Liam Dawson got two wickets each, while Jake Ball, Moeen Ali, Ben Stokes and Adil Rashid got one wicket apiece. At the same time, Joe Root and Keaton Jennings got no wicket. Ali turned expensive in view of the fact that he gave 190 runs while bowling for 41 overs, letting Indian players feel the comfort in easily going for quite a lot of runs.
When the play of Day 4 ended, England trailed by 270 runs. Alastair Cook scored 3 runs in 17 balls, while Keaton Jennings 9 runs, including a boundary. They refrained from going with a wrong selection of shot, which would have given India what they were eying from the start. England scored 12 runs for the loss of no wickets in five overs yesterday. The two openers resumed play with the objective to gain foothold. It would be real success for them to put water on India’s dream to finish Test series by being victorious in the end. Virat Kohli wants the bowling lineup to send England players back to pavilion as early as possible. Early dismissals will help India increase possibility of emerging as a victor from this point. Ending the match with a win on their side will be a real reward to the young talents of the Indian cricket team.
England too have good batsmen who can do the job by staying on the pitch for a long time, snatching away the chance of logging win from the hosts. England openers Cook and Jennings are doing well so far, playing at 30 runs and 31 runs, respectively. Joe Root, Moeen Ali, Ben Stokes, Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler, Adil Rashid, Stuart Broad, Liam Dawson and Jake Ball are yet to bat. England are playing for their pride. A whitewash will be tough to digest for them as they being one of the tough contenders. But thanks to great display of talent by Indian cricketers in almost each department, England did not shine. Job is to be done by Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Amit Mishra, Umesh Yadav and Ishant Sharma given that India look for wickets. Indian cricket team is full of fine fielders. Kohli would wish to get at least a few wickets before the end of first session to boost the chance of winning the fifth Test.
Since the entire day time remains for the match, it will be interesting to note whether England get success in finishing the match in a draw or succumb in front of good spin and fast bowling by the India bowlers, who are experienced and know exactly what should be done to keep the rivals under the pump. The Men in Blue are popular across the world for getting back in the game despite being in an unpredictable zone. The possibilities of winning could be increased by letting the guest feel sheer pressure. Here is to mention that young chaps of the Indian camp are all set to write a new story. Wickets will be eyed in the remaining sessions of the day.
Indian audience hopes to see Kohli’s men attaining another win that is only possible if England players are shown a way back to the dressing room. A victory and defeat at this point is gonna be counted provided that rivalries grow as soon as one team succumbs to the other post lacking the momentum to win the competition. Keeping in mind the way England succumbed to Bangladesh in the Test that held a couple of months ago, India can think of getting 10 wickets. Not to forget that England did not lose any wicket when totaled 100 runs but the entire team was out in next 64 runs, making Bangladesh win the Test by 108 runs. Let us wait a bit more and see how Kohli and Cook guide their respective groups to put their best foot forward.