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Pace bowling on Indian wickets can be a frustrating experience, especially in Tests. Long spells on dead, slow pitches can be back breaking. And conditions at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium here during the first Test have been what the pace tribe dreads.
England did not even feel that a second pacer will be useful, naming only Mark Wood in the eleven for his express pace, leaving the great James Anderson on the bench. India picked Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj, though they were there essentially as the support cast to R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja.
For Tests in the subcontinent, most of the pacers’ work comes on the first day when the spinners don’t get much assistance. Still, on Day 1 just 14 overs of pace was used — 12 by India and two by England.
At the start of England’s second innings on Saturday, the pacers were not much in India’s bowling plans. But the way England batters played their shots to put the spinners off their rhythm, the Bazball approach was working for them. Runs came rapidly through openers Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett, and Ollie Pope. Going at nearly six runs an over, England had wiped out 100 of the 190-run lead by the start of the 18th over.
The ease with which the Indian spinners were being dealt with forced Rohit Sharma to change plans. A pitch that had further slowed down didn’t help. After lunch, Bumrah was on from one end. Trust the pace ace to take the situation and the surface out of the equation. He was playing only his fifth Test at home. But it is a testament to his skill that even on a pitch tailormade for spin and with the 500-plus wicket pair of Ashwin and Jadeja in the mix, Bumrah proved the bigger threat for England batters.
In an adrenaline pumping performance, he had the crowd going every time he came on to bowl. The second spell was simply sensational as he made the ball talk with reverse swing. The hyper-extension of the elbow and then the flick of the wrist to make the ball jag off the turf was all on display. Bowling dead straight, almost every ball felt like an event during that five-over burst.
Bumrah could have got the breakthrough immediately, at 97/1, when he beat Ben Duckett all ends up, rapping him on the pads. Skipper Rohit Sharma and ‘keeper KS Bharat, after a discussion, decided against reviewing it. To their dismay, the replays showed it was hitting the stumps.
The disappointment didn’t last long. At the total of 113, Bumrah sent the left-hand batter’s off-stump flying with a beauty. The length ball came in with the angle and Duckett, looking to smash it, ended up playing all around it. It was a perfect set-up; Duckett had cover driven earlier in the over. The bowler let out a roar and fist-pumped in joy.
Bumrah’s wrist position and release point are almost from the same place which makes it difficult for the batters to pick which side he is going to go.
Even Joe Root was done in by Bumrah’s reverse swing. After testing him with a yorker, which the batter found it tough to dig out, Root was nailed in front by a 140.4kph inswinger that kept coming in with the angle. Trying to clip it away, the batter got slightly off-balance and was beaten on the inside edge.
For England it would have brought back the memories of a similar exhibition by Bumrah against them at The Oval in 2021 when he bowled the match-winning spell of reverse swing on the final day as they were trying to save the game.
With abrasive conditions favouring reverse swing in India, Root is looking forward to the battle through the series with Bumrah.
“It’s what you’d expect from a Test match, and a big moment in the game. I was disappointed not to get through it. You know that for four or five overs he will charge in and throw everything at us. Get through that and it puts a big dent in it mentally. You recognise that as a big moment in the game… 1-0 to him, although 1-1 actually as I got him out earlier.”
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