IND vs ENG 5th Test LIVE Updates: Red carpet for India as ideal batting conditions await Jaiswal, Gill to make merry

Hindustan Times

4 days ago

IND vs ENG 5th Test LIVE Updates: Moving day in the decisive fifth and final Test match of this rollercoaster Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy, and as has always been the case with this series, it is here and with all to fight for. The teams are once again neck-and-neck, neither side too disappointed with where they are, but aware that the game can slip out of their grasp quickly at this crucial juncture of the match....Read More
India are currently 75/2 in the third innings, Yashasvi Jaiswal still at the crease with nightwatchman Akash Deep at the other end. Their lead stands at 52, thanks to Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna sparking into action and leading their fightback to ensure a firecracker England start didn't turn into another miserable bowling session for the visitors.
Essentially at 52/2 with KL Rahul and Sai Sudharsan back in the hut, it comes down to the future of Indian cricket, its two best batters over recent years, as Yashasvi Jaiswal tries to find his touch after a few quiet innings struck together. He will be hoping to find able support from Shubman Gill, still to come in, who has enjoyed a phenomenal series in his first outing as captain. Nevertheless, all of it will be for nothing if the skipper can't see his team through to a win in this Test match. Will that added pressure spur on his game, or will he falter when the lights are at their brightest?
The Oval has been a dream for seamers so far on its first two days, with a nice covering of grass and very overcast conditions. The good news for India is that it is the third day, when batting is expected to be at its best, and it coincides with the brightest day of the week on the forecast. If the conditions play in their favour, India know they will have no better chance of setting up a massive fourth innings chase for the English team — and a truly massive score will be needed for England, who are such good chasers, even without their talismanic captain at their disposal.
No Chris Woakes either for England, another boost in India's favour, but there will need to be a lot of care and responsibility taken by the remainder of India's batting. There is still a lot of batting in the tank: Jaiswal is already at the crease, and will want to convert his fast start into a big score after throwing away his wicket on occasion this series. Gill has yet to come out of the hut, along with Karun Nair, Dhruv Jurel, Ravindra Jadeja, and Washington Sundar. That's a lot of batting, but India will know that anything sub-300 in terms of a target will likely not be enough — and even scores in excess of that have been hunted down in their very matchup.
The match will take a turn in one direction or the other by the end of day's play today, you feel, after two fairly honours-even kind of days. For India, it is a matter of desperation to be on the right side. They were in a similar predicament in Australia earlier this year: can they do better now than on that occasion?