‘60 overs of hell’ for England after a KL Rahul masterclass: The best of India in England Part 4

Bang in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic, India had fought back against all odds to secure a dramatic second successive series win in Australia in January 2021, then bounced back from the loss of the first Test in Chennai against England to surge to a 3-1 triumph in March to secure their place in the final of the World Test Championship against New Zealand in June. India's KL Rahul celebrates

With the quarantine restrictions in place, a large contingent left for Southampton hoping to lay their hands on the one trophy yet to adorn their cupboard, but disappointment was in store when the Kiwis eased to an eight-wicket victory. India were to play five subsequent Tests in England, their first assignment in the new WTC cycle, but the first game wouldn’t start for another month and a half, in Nottingham.

A semblance of normalcy had returned to England while India was just recovering from the debilitating effects of the second wave, so it was decided that the players would not return home. After a couple of weeks of rest and relaxation, the team assembled for a ten-day camp in Durham ahead of the first Test, which ended in a stalemate with the weather playing spoilsport.

A KL Rahul masterclass in the first innings

Over to Lord’s then, and Act Two of what would turn out to be a compelling series. Rohit Sharma’s sustained commitment to playing the role of the ‘traditional’ opener during the Durham camp had netted him 36 and 12 not out at Trent Bridge; at Lord’s, he ramped it up with a fluent 83, adding 126 for the first wicket with centurion KL Rahul to negate Joe Root’s decision to stick India in.

Rahul was in supreme touch and the rest batted around him as India reached 331 for five, eyeing a total in excess of 400, when James Anderson – who else? – triggered a dramatic collapse which produced five wickets for just 33 runs. Through Root’s unbeaten 180 and his century stand with Jonny Bairstow, England grabbed a narrow lead when Jasprit Bumrah decided it was time to up the action.

A series of bouncers at last man Anderson didn’t amuse the English; it didn’t help their mood that Bumrah bowled four no-balls in a single over in which he hit the No. 11 on his helmet and other parts of the body, or that there were 13 no-balls in all from the Indian champion. By the time Mohammed Shami cleaned up Anderson with England ahead by 27, late on day three, the hosts were bristling.

A rattled Anderson went wicketless, but Mark Wood rocked the Indian top order as the visitors stumbled to 181 for six at close on day four, a lead of 208 with England having their noses in front. Rishabh Pant, overnight 14, loomed as the key wicket, but when he and Ishant Sharma fell within 15 runs of each other at the start of day five, India were in all sorts of trouble at 209 for eight.

‘60 overs of hell’

The sight of Bumrah walking in was like a red rag to a bull as England swarmed all over him, returning the compliment with a barrage of short balls. Anderson admitted later that he allowed his emotions to get the better of him. Bumrah rode the short balls beautifully and played booming strokes when the ball was pitched up; at the other end, Shami was enjoying himself as England went to pieces. Shami reached his second Test fifty with a six and the ninth-wicket stand had reached 89 when Virat Kohli applied the closure 10 minutes after lunch, setting England 272 for victory in a possible 60 overs of ‘hell’ as famously termed by Virat Kohli during the huddle.

This was in the pre-Bazball era and England were in the middle of a horror run in Test cricket. Any thoughts they might have entertained of making a fist of it evaporated within ten deliveries of their chase when Bumrah and Shami accounted for openers Rory Burns and Dom Sibley respectively with just one run on the board. From there on, it was a desperate struggle for survival with Root again central to the hosts’ designs of emerging unscathed.

Bumrah produced a beauty to dismiss the England captain in the first over after tea. India were buzzing and a large pro-Indian crowd drove the team on. Bumrah was sensational – his dismissal of Ollie Robinson with a slower ball was mesmeric – and Mohammed Siraj reprised his four-wicket haul of the first innings, disturbing Anderson’s furniture with 49 deliveries still remaining. England were shot out for 120 in just 51.5 overs as India pulled a rabbit out of the hat, riding on belief and the strength of their pace attack to race home to a 151-run triumph.

Brief scores

India: 364 all out in 126.1 overs (Rohit Sharma 83, KL Rahul 129, Virat Kohli 42, Rishabh Pant 37, Ravindra Jadeja 40; James Anderson 5-62, Ollie Robinson 2-73, Mark Wood 2-91) and 298/8 decl. in 109.3 overs (Cheteshwar Pujara 45, Ajinkya Rahane 61, Mohammed Shami 56 n.o., Jasprit Bumrah 34 n.o.; Robinson 2-45, Wood 3-51, Moeen Ali 2-84) beat England: 391 all out in 128 overs (Rory Burns 49, Joe Root 180 n.o., Jonny Bairstow 57, Moeen 27; Ishant Sharma 3-69, Shami 2-95, Mohammed Siraj 4-94) and 120 all out in 51.5 overs (Root 33, Jos Buttler 25; Bumrah 3-33, Siraj 4-32, Ishant 2-13) by 151 runs. Player of the Match: KL Rahul.

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