India 329 (Kohli 97, Rahane 81, Anderson 3-64) and 124 for 2 (Pujara 33*, Kohli 8*) lead England 161 (Buttler 39, Pandya 5-28) by 292 runs
“Is he a batsman who bowls?” “Is he a bowler who bats?” “What is Hardik Pandya?”
In the lead-up to the third Test, it seemed Pandya was the man responsible for the 0-2 scoreline for India. Pandya seemed to be paying the price for ill-conceived comparisons with Kapil Dev early on in his career. What is Hardik Pandya, they all asked?
Pandya to Virat Kohli is the bowler he wants to go to when the lead bowlers are losing intensity in Tests. He is the batsman who will sell his wicket dearly. Pandya had done each of those in the series so far, yet he came into the Trent Bridge Test under pressure. His moment to justify his selection came when Ishant Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah had bowled long spells to drag India back into the contest after a horrible start with the new ball. R Ashwin was injured, and India needed a bowler to hold one end up. Pandya did way more, taking five wickets in 29 balls, making sure the hard work of Ishant and Bumrah didn’t go to waste.
Pandya, Ishant and Bumrah combined to bowl England out in a session, the third time they have crashed to this ignominy in their last 24 Tests. Despite a start of 46 for 0 before lunch, having taken India’s four standing wickets for 22 before that, England crashed to a 168-run deficit thanks to that disastrous session. In the final session, with the mind free and under no pressure, against a demoralised bowling attack, India went on to unleash their range of stroke-play to score at four an over and take their lead to 292.
The real hard work had been done before Pandya came on to bowl, but not even his harshest critic will begrudge him that moment of glory. The comeback for India began when they finally went to Ishant after lunch. Until then, Mohammed Shami and Bumrah had sprayed the ball around. Post lunch, Ishant settled into a Test-match length just outside off. The ball was at a stage where it has started swinging this series. Alastair Cook drove loosely in the first over. Got four. Did that again two overs later. Was dropped. Then pushed at the best of the lot, and the faint edge went for the first of five catches for debutant Rishabh Pant.
The next ball produced the worst shot of the innings. Keaton Jennings had been given a largely untested start for the third time this series. Bumrah was going wide on the crease and angling short balls across him from over the wicket. India were only looking for some control on that run rate, but he managed to poke at one he could have left well alone. Two wickets in two balls.
Full report to follow…
Source: ESPN Crickinfo