India dominated on Day 1 of the Hyderabad Test and continued their dominance in the latter two sessions on Day 2 after losing a couple of top-order batters early in the first session.
Resuming the play on Day 2 at a score of 119/1, Yashasvi Jaiswal failed to get his eye in once again as he was dismissed on the fourth delivery of the day by Joe Root who was able to produce a big edge off Jaiswal’s bat and completed the catch himself to send the young prodigy back to the pavilion.
The last ball of the same over saw KL Rahul edging it to Ben Foakes behind the stumps but the wicket-keeper failed to pouch the ball safely within his gloves.
After a brief rebuild of the innings between Rahul and Shubman Gill, the Punjab-born batter threw away his wicket after another start as debutant Tom Hartley made Gill his first victim in the Test format with Ben Duckett completing the catch at mid-wicket.
The threat of Mark Wood was dealt with well by Rahul who smacked three boundaries against the fast bowler in the 36th over. By the end of the 48th over, Rahul completed his half-century, once again showing he can adjust to bat at any position in the middle order. India closed out the first session of Day 2’s play at a score of 222 runs for a loss of three wickets in 50 overs.
Rehan Ahmed got his first wicket of the series almost immediately after the lunch break as Shreyas Iyer holed out in the deep with Hartley completing the catch. Ahmed was later taken to the cleaners in the 57th over as Rahul smacked him away for two maximums and wanted to up the ante further before Tea.
The overambitious nature of Rahul’s strokeplay worked against him as Ahmed completed a catch in the deep off Hartley’s bowling to return the favor and leave India with their all-rounders and wicket-keeper to make the rest of the runs.
After Rahul’s dismissal, the flow of runs stemmed as Srikar Bharat and Jadeja went into a shell with the duo accumulating 18 runs in 11 overs before Tea was taken on Day 2. Straight after the tea break, Root trapped Jadeja LBW but the umpire deemed it not out and Ben Stokes was left ruing the reviews wasted by the visitors on Day 1.
Ravindra Jadeja is nearing a century and might complete the milestone on Day 3
While Jadeja was on a score of 49 runs, Bharat raced from a score of 10 runs to 29 runs as the visitors were focused on stopping the all-rounder from becoming the third half-centurion of the innings. Finally, a misfield in the 83rd over allowed Jadeja to complete his half-century and continue with the run-scoring exploits.
England took the new ball at the start of the 85th over and it paid off within a few overs as Root trapped Bharat LBW at the score of 41 runs off 81 balls. Soon after, Ravichandran Ashwin was run out as miscommunication between Jadeja and the experienced off-spinner led Tom Hartley to get his throw at the right end of the pitch.
Axar Patel came out to bat at No.9 and built a strong partnership with Jadeja as the pair smacked the English spinners all over the park and later dealt with the threat posed by Wood’s raw pace.
The hosts finished Day 2 at a score of 421 runs for the loss of 7 wickets as Axar is batting at a score of 35 runs off 62 balls with 5 boundaries and one maximum while Jadeja is nearing his century at a score of 81 runs off 155 balls with 7 boundaries and a couple of maximums scored off the experienced all-rounder’s blade.