&w=3840&q=100)
Stealth and Skill: IND openers unfazed by Manchester's overcast challenge
With clouds hovering over Old Trafford cricket ground, it was expected that the Indian batters will have a difficult beginning to the proceedings. However, the visitors proved the pundits wrong, with openers Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul coming out and holding their ends in the beginning.
The first session began with both Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul giving the hosts a steady start against a bowling attack that was getting some movement off the ball in the start in Manchester.
Jofra Archer and Chris Woakes began brilliantly with their line and lengths as both batters were hesitant to attack the ball on most occasions. However, the duo did pick up the odd balls and found boundaries in between the difficult spells. By the end of the session, the pacers had bowled almost 37% of the deliveries at good length while the rest of them falling short (33%) on the day.
Jaiswal's bat did find the edge twice but fell short of the slips and denying England that early breakthrough on the day. The extra bounce provided by th surface also saw Jaiswal's bat taking the full brunt of it as it cracked open in of the overs from Woakes and needed replacement.
Stokes later introduced himself and Brydon Carse into the attack and tries to hit the deck hard to get that extra bounce. However, despite of a couple of close LBW shouts, the Three Lions couldn't disrupt the partnership.
The openers stiched a 78-run partnership in the middle as they tried to counter attack the pacers the overcast conditions with the score at 78/0 at lunch.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Hans India
13 minutes ago
- Hans India
'Bumrah might retire from Test cricket soon', says Kaif after pacer's low-key performance in Manchester
New Delhi: Former India batter Mohammad Kaif made a shocking revelation that pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah might retire from red-ball cricket after failing to give his 100 per cent on the field in the ongoing fourth Test against England at Old Trafford. Bumrah has so far bowled 28 overs in England's first innings and returned with the figures of 1-95. His only dismissal was Jamie Smith in the final session of play on Friday. It was not about getting wickets but his pace has noticeably dipped in the ongoing fourth Test, where he's mostly operating in the 130-135 kmph range - a marked drop from the speeds he clocked during the series opener in Headingley. In both the Leeds and Lord's Tests, the 31-year-old consistently touched 140 kmph. "Jasprit Bumrah, I feel, will not play in the upcoming Test matches and might retire as well. He is struggling with his body and his pace has dropped in this Test match. He is an honest man and if he feels that he's not able to give 100 per cent to the country, he will rule himself out. Not getting wickets is one thing, but the pace has also dropped to 125-130 kmph," Kaif said in a video posted on X. Concerns deepened when Bumrah was seen clutching his ankle during the second session, though he did return to bowl later in the day. Even the commentators noted that he appeared to be holding back, bowling within himself and approaching the crease cautiously. With Bumrah already scheduled to feature in only three of the five Tests due to workload management, Kaif suggested that fans may need to start adjusting to the prospect of seeing less of him in the longest format moving forward. "There is no doubt about his passion and commitment, but he is losing out on his body. His non-performance in this Test, clearly speaks that he will have problems in playing Test matches ahead and might not even play in Tests. After Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Ashwin, the Indian fans have to prepare themselves for playing without Bumrah. I hope my prediction comes out wrong, but what I saw is what I'm speaking of," the former batter added.
Mint
13 minutes ago
- Mint
Jasprit Bumrah achieves unwanted Test record in Manchester en route to India pacer's 100 int'l wickets against England
Jasprit Bumrah achieved an unwanted Test record in Manchester on Saturday en route to his century of wickets against England in international cricket. Having started the ongoing fourth Test on 98 wickets, Bumrah dismissed Jamie Smith on day three before shattering Lian Dawson's stumps on the fourth day to become the fourth Indian to join the 100-club at Old Trafford. Bumrah thus joined legendary Kapil Dev, Ravichandran Ashwin, and Ravindra Jadeja to take 100 wickets against England in international cricket. However, in the process, Bumrah conceded 100-plus runs for the first time in his Test career, since making his India debut in 2018.
Hindustan Times
13 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
Gautam Gambhir's self-inflicted chaos shreds Anshul Kamboj's confidence; Kuldeep Yadav's omission shows pig-headedness
When Anshul Kamboj arrived in Manchester early this week to link up with the Indian Test team, there was a sense of optimism. Hope, yes, but also the belief that he was the real deal. That he wouldn't become a one-Test blunder. That he had a long, promising future ahead of him. India's Anshul Kamboj bowls a delivery against England in Manchetser(PTI) After all, the 24-year-old had stacked up an impressive CV of rave reviews. From Stephen Fleming, his coach at Chennai Super Kings. From R Ashwin, the now-retired off-spinner, India's second-highest wicket-taker in Tests. And most significantly, from Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the former India captain who isn't given to singing paeans of praise easily. Kamboj is strong. He is young – only 24 – but he has a reasonable volume of work in first-class cricket. He is exciting, capable of bowling in the mid-130s, hitting the deck, coming on to the bat faster than it would appear at first sight. A great addition to the Test side, one thought, to back up Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj in the injury-enforced absences of Akash Deep and Arshdeep Singh. There was little to suggest in the lead-up to the fourth Test that the lad from Haryana did not belong. In his two net sessions at Old Trafford, he ran in briskly, hurried India's best batters, seemed unaffected by his sudden elevation to a dressing-room that contained, among others, the world's best bowler. When he received his Test cap from Deep Dasgupta, the India stumper turned commentator, on Wednesday morning, one couldn't help but marvel at his journey from Karnal to Manchester. It didn't take long for the bubble to burst. After India had wended their way to 358 on being put in – Kamboj was out for a duck, perhaps a portent of things to come – he was given the new ball alongside Bumrah, ahead of Siraj. Hmmm, here we go… The first ball, to the aggressive Ben Duckett, was a gentle, friendly 76 mph offering. Eyebrows were raised in the press box, questioning looks exchanged. 'Nerves', we told each other. 'Let him settle down.' As if to buttress the point, he produced a nasty next ball that climbed wickedly, pinged the left-handed Duckett on his glove and flew just wide of stand-in keeper Dhruv Jurel, down to fine-leg for four. Who knows what might have happened had it stuck, had Jurel pulled off a screamer. We do know what actually happened, don't we? After his first three days in Test cricket, Kamboj has figures of 18-1-89-1, his lone wicket a gift from Duckett, who feathered a short, wide, innocuous delivery to Jurel six short of his hundred. If it was possible, Kamboj's pace on day three dropped even further – from 128-plus on Thursday to barely above 125. It did little to enhance India's hard-earned recent reputation as the land of promising quicks, a reputation now in tatters with numerous quicks picking up non-cricketing injuries. 'I wish I could give you that answer (about Kamboj's lack of pace), because I would have told him then how to bowl quicker,' Morne Morkel, the former South African pacer who is one of India's assistant coaches, acknowledged with a rueful smile. 'He arrived here, he bowled well in the nets, and we went with that. Why were the speeds so low? That is something we're working on. But he was definitely quicker when we saw him in the India 'A' games (in England in May-June) and in some of the games back home.' India aren't in trouble in the fourth Test merely because of Kamboj – Bumrah and Siraj tasted their first successes in their 24th and 25th overs respectively and offie Washington Sundar, despite four second-innings wickets at Lord's, wasn't pressed into service till the 69th over. Head coach Gautam Gambhir, his support group and captain Shubman Gill must offer more convincing explanations surrounding the repeated omission of Kuldeep Yadav. The left-arm wrist-spinner is a novelty in Test cricket and England don't play wrist-spin well. The Old Trafford pitch is quite dry, all the more reason for Kuldeep to play, but in their desire to bolster batting depth, India have chosen to omit their second most potent bowling weapon. Maybe they will field him at The Oval next week. Maybe by then, the horse would have bolted to another continent. Being too clever by half is a real thing. India have been that, and more. Many of their left-field calls have worked, such as playing both Nitish Kumar Reddy and Washington in Birmingham. Others haven't, among them pushing Karun Nair up to No. 3 in the second and third Tests. No prizes for guessing in which category Kamboj's inclusion, ahead of Prasidh Krishna, falls. Or, for that matter, the pig-headedness when it comes to Kuldeep. A potential third straight series loss is pretty much of India's own making – on the field, yes, but emphatically off it too.
