Chennai: Ravichandran Ashwin first gave a lesson on how to bowl on a rank turner. The Tamil Nadu cricketer then provided a batting master-class with a sparkling hundred (106, 148b, 14×4, 1×6) on a deteriorating strip. It was Ravichandran Ashwin’s fifth Test hundred and it put India on the brink of a massive series-levelling victory against England. At the end of the third day of the second Test here Monday, the visitors were 52 for three chasing a victory target of 482.
Ashwin’s century along with Virat Kohli’s near flawless 62 (149b, 7×4) got India to a more than decent 286 in 85.5 overs. At stumps, England were already crumbling. It would take nothing short of a miracle for England to bat for two days and save the match.
Even their resolute captain Joe Root and coach Chris Silverwood wouldn’t be optimistic on a track where exploding divots are making it extremely difficult to bat.
But difficult doesn’t mean impossible. Facing a quality seam bowler on a green top is an art. Similarly one needs plenty of skills and mental fortitude to counter spinners on a dust bowl. Ashwin had plenty of both.
“I will sleep well through the night, that is all that I am thinking,” Ashwin said after stumps. “I don’t know what the team are feeling like but I am sure they are thrilled,” he added.
Skipper Kohli and Ashwin showed the likes of Michael Vaughan that they have that in abundance. India batted nearly 182 overs across two innings on a track that many deemed as under-prepared after England failed to score even 150.
India’s batting exhibition in the second innings was a statement for all the Doubting Thomases on how to bat on a third-day track. It only helped that Moeen Ali (4/98) and Jack Leach (4/100)) were not half as good as Ashwin and Axar Patel were on the second day.
If Rohit Sharma set it up with a classy Day 1 hundred, Ashwin and Kohli, in the next two days, didn’t take their feet off the pedal. They have now put England in the tightest of corners.
Till the ball remained hard, England got three quick wickets leaving India in a spot at 65 for four. However, Kohli again seemed in a mood to make batting look easy. He displayed defensive elegance, coming close to the pitch of the ball to take an off-stump guard in order to negate turn. He also used the sweep shot only for deliveries that were drifting down the leg-side.
There were seven boundaries, mostly drives and in Ashwin he found an able ally. They added 96 runs in 177 balls, a partnership that deflated England completely.
Ashwin relied on shots square of the wicket and left Kohli with the job of grafting, taking it upon himself to attack the England bowling.
Ravindra Jadeja’s ascendancy as India’s all-conditions specialist spin bowling all-rounder led to Ashwin losing a bit of confidence and the cutting edge he possessed with the willow. But everything changed after the semi-fit Chennai engineer pulled off a last day wonder in Sydney which has now helped him get his mojo back.
In the past one year, he has tremendously upgraded his variations and the confidence in ‘Ashwin the bowler’ has brought to the fore ‘Ashwin the batsman’.
The way he marshalled the tail was commendable with two partnerships – 27 with Ishant Sharma (7) and 49 with Mohammed Siraj (16) for the 10th wicket. In both cases, he cleverly shielded the strike and finally reached 97 with a six.
A miscued shot got him his hundred and the ensuing celebrations, especially from Kohli punching his fists while giving a standing ovation, said it all. Ashwin seemed finally back where he belonged and that’s right at the top.
Brief scores: India 329 and 286 (Ravichandran Ashwin 106, Virat Kohli 62, Moeen Ali 4/98, Jack Leach 4/100); England 134 and 53 for 3 (Axar Patel 2/15). Match to continue.