Jasprit Bumrah stars for India with a 6-wicket haul as the hosts dominate England on Day 2

India was comfortably in the driver’s seat at stumps on Day 2 as Jasprit Bumrah flattened the England batting line-up in the Visakhapatnam Test after Yashasvi Jaiswal brought up his maiden double century earlier in the day.

On Day 2 of the Visakhapatnam Test, James Anderson took the attack to the overnight Indian batters Yashasvi Jaiswal and Ravichandran Ashwin. The fast bowler was given the new ball alongside Shoaib Bashir and the experienced pacer kept bowling in the channel of the fourth stump to trouble Ashwin and Jaiswal.

From the other end, Bashir went for a couple of boundaries as Ashwin decided to exercise some dominance with Jaiswal starting the day’s play a bit tentatively. The Tamil Nadu-based all-rounder also sent a ball from Anderson to the fence but changing the gears against the fast bowler proved costly as Anderson dismissed Ashwin on the next ball at a score of 20 runs off 37 balls.

Ashwin’s dismissal prompted Jaiswal to take matters into his own hands as the first ball of the 102nd over was sent flying over the fence courtesy of a beautiful slog sweep off Bashir’s bowling. On the next ball, the southpaw thanked Bashir for bowling a full-toss as Jaiswal brought about his maiden double century in Test cricket with a boundary.

In the 107th over, the wily fast bowler sent Jaiswal packing as the youngster’s patience wore thin and he skied the ball towards Jonny Bairstow who ran in from extra cover and completed the catch ending his innings at a score of 209 runs off 290 balls.

After 80 minutes of play, Ben Stokes decided for a change in the bowling and brought in Rehan Ahmed who bowled a full-toss and gifted Jasprit Bumrah an easy boundary through the deep mid-wicket region. The wrist-spinner bore fruits though in the same over as Root completed a safe catch at first slip with Bumrah getting an outside edge off his blade.

Debutant Bashir ensured the hosts couldn’t breach the 400-run mark with his third wicket of the innings as the youngster dismissed Mukesh Kumar with Root catching the ball once again in the slip cordon as India folded for a total score of 396 runs which could prove fatal for them if the ‘Bazball’ instincts of the English batters take over later in the match.

While Bumrah started the English innings with a maiden over, the visitors accumulated 28 runs in the next three overs with Ben Duckett smashing three boundaries off Mukesh’s second over. Skipper Rohit Sharma was forced to introduce Kuldeep and Ashwin before lunch as the spinners started repair work with the visitors ending the first session at a score of 32/0.

The second session started with promise for India as Shubman Gill’s one-handed effort went down with Duckett surviving to watch the next over from the other end of the pitch. Zak Crawley scored three consecutive boundaries of the first three balls off Bumrah’s over and ended the over with another boundary as England raced to a score of 59/0 by the end of the 10th over.

Kuldeep Yadav proved a point by taking crucial wickets of Duckett, Foakes, and Ahmed

Kuldeep was re-introduced into the attack and produced an outside edge off Duckett’s bat with debutant Rajat Patidar catching the ball at forward short leg to draw first blood. Zak Crawley brought up his half-century in 52 balls as the batter smashed Kuldeep for a four and a six in his next over with Ollie Pope starting cautiously after a big score in the last match.

On the last ball of the 18th over, Crawley brought out the slog-sweep on the front foot and smacked Ashwin for a maximum. In Ashwin’s next over, the opening batter displayed a beautiful cover drive which went racing to the fence before cutting the ball for another boundary as the experienced spinner didn’t seem to have any answers to Crawley’s swashbuckling innings.

After the drinks break, Axar Patel was introduced into the attack and the southpaw dismissed Crawley as Shreyas Iyer completed a brilliant catch while back-pedalling as the opening batter ended his innings at a score of 76 runs off 78 balls which included 11 boundaries and two sixes.

Joe Root continued to have a terrible time with the bat in hand as Bumrah produced an outside edge off his blade and Gill completed an easy catch at first slip sending the former English skipper back to the pavilion after contributing five runs. Coming in at No.5, Jonny Bairstow opened up his arms against Axar by cutting the ball for a boundary before procuring another four off Axar’s last ball of the over. 

In the next over, Bumrah yorked Pope after he had contributed 23 runs off 55 balls and the stumps went flying off the pitch paving way for Stokes to enter the fray at a crucial juncture of the match. The skipper steadied the ship alongside Bairstow as the visitors had 155 runs on the board with 6 wickets in hand as Tea was taken on a fast-moving day of Test cricket.

Bumrah bowled nine dot balls to Bairstow on the trot after tea and dismissed him on the tenth ball as Gill was once again the catcher at first slip. Kuldeep was threatening from the other end and got his reward soon as the wicket-keeper was expecting some turn but was clean bowled on a straighter delivery exposing Stokes to bat with the bowlers yet again.

Soon after, Ahmed drove Bumrah down the ground for an eye-catching boundary before Kuldeep struck for the third time in the day as the youngster played the ball straight to Gill.

Between the 45th and the 48th over, the pair of Stokes and Tom Hartley procured 37 crucial runs for Brendon Mccullum’s side as Stokes went hammer and tongs after Ashwin and Kuldeep while Hartley also smashed the left-arm chinaman bowler for a maximum.

Bumrah’s re-introduction once again spelt dismay for England as the fast bowler produced a magical delivery that will be replayed in bowling classes for years to come. The Indian vice-captain bowled a good-length delivery that nipped back in off the pitch and crashed onto the stumps ending the English skipper’s innings on a score of 47 runs off 54 balls.

The brave Tom Hartley became Bumrah’s 150th Test wicket as he edged the ball straight to Gill after making 21 runs off 24 balls with the top-order batter taking his fourth catch of the innings. Bumrah deservedly wrapped up the Engish innings after the 19-run partnership for the 10th wicket as Anderson was trapped LBW helping his rival fast bowler record the best figures by an Indian seamer at home in a 21st-century Test match.

With a lead of 143 runs in the bag, Jaiswal once again walked out to bat with skipper Sharma who signalled his intent with two boundaries off the first four balls he faced in the innings. The southpaw was in great touch as he scored three consecutive boundaries off Bashir in the fourth over.

The hosts are comfortably in the driver’s seat and will resume play at 28/0 and a lead of 171 runs as Stokes and Co. will be aiming for a comeback to remember for ages.