In a way, a lot of the worst parts of day four in Chennai, of England’s perceived conservatism as they laboured through large parts of their second innings to stretch it to 47 overs, were India’s fault.
The pitch is still relatively true, as shown by Shubman Gill’s unflustered 15 through to stumps with India 39 for one, though the 21-year-old could make batting barefoot on a bed of nails look comfortable. With 90 overs left in the first Test, Cheteshwar Pujara, on 12, is probably eyeing up most of them. And if you do the things India have in the last month, you are going to tempt excitement in others.
Because when you have batted out a final day in Sydney and threatened to chase down 407, and then go one further to bag a target of 328 in Brisbane, you are going to put people on notice. Even with a monumental 381 to get in 90 overs or so on Tuesday, an unlikely victory cannot be discarded. Gill and Pujara to start, a hungry Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane to come, with Rishabh Pant, buoyed by stellar hands in both those Australia matches and a momentum-shifting 91 in this one, in the form of his life. Countries have gone into lockdown faced with that kind of inevitable threat.
Joe Root will face immense pressure if that comes to be, even if this first Test ends in a draw. But the cards are still in England’s favour, with enough time to create nine more opportunities similar to the one that saw off Rohit Sharma. A perfect orthodox spinner’s delivery from Jack Leach spun sharply past the right-hander’s outside edge to clip his off stump. Even on a surface that has been largely unforgiving for bowlers, all four results are in play.
Having established a first-innings lead of 241 after bowling India out for 337, England’s focus on runs shifted to time. Along with the 13 overs on Monday evening, they should get another 10 or so overs with the new ball first thing on day five and 20 with the second one when it is available in the final session.
As much as India were made to wait in the field, they were able to extra some joy from the third innings. Ravichandran Ashwin marked his 75th Test with a 28th five-wicket haul, taking six for 76 to subdue England’s early charge. And with a sharp delivery trapping Dan Lawrence LBW for 18, Ishant Sharma became the third Indian to 300 career wickets, after Kapil Dev and Zaheer Khan.
England’s main concern coming into Sunday was a steady partnership between Washington Sundar and Ashwin. Their stickability on Sunday evening came with a view to chip away at time and India’s deficit, which stood at 321 when they resumed. Forty-eight of the 80 clawed back in the morning came between them.
They used the six overs until the new ball was available to good effect, notably for Sundar who went to a second half-century with a crisp drive from his 82nd delivery. When the second new ball was taken after 81.3 overs, it would be five overs later that the seven-wicket partnership was broken when Root turned back to his spinners.
Leach made the intervention, polishing ropey figures of none for 100 from his 20 overs as the first ball of his 21st caught the shoulder of Ashwin’s bat, Buttler charging out from behind the stumps to complete the dismissal with a diving take at point. He eventually finished with two for 105 – Shahbaz Nadeem caught Ben Stokes at slip – while James Anderson also got on the board, closing out the innings with two for 46. He, too, was indebted to Stokes, who pulled off a fine low catch to his right to remove Jasprit Bumrah.
It left Sundar on a new career-best of 85 and England’s openers facing a two-over session before lunch. Rory Burns was given a golden duck to munch on, Ashwin opening the bowling and immediately getting a delivery to rear up and take the left-hander’s edge through to Rahane at slip. A no-ball, one of 27 bowled by the hosts in this Test, allowed England to go into the break one for one, albeit with a 242 lead behind them.
They returned to go along at 4.5 runs per over, continually pegged back by an unflagging group of bowlers now in the field for the fourth day in a row. Stokes’ demise was key to restricting any flow. His 82 in the first innings was a shot in the arm for England’s 578 on day one, but he was seen off for seven featuring an edge through to Pant for Ashwin’s third.
Of course, Root continued to sweep his way through 2021, taking 40 from 32 deliveries before he fell 160 short of a third double hundred, Bumrah forcing a reverse swinging delivery into his pad.
Oddly, the intent seemed to end with the dismissal of Pope (28 from 32), after he was caught trying for a second consecutive reverse sweep for four. With the lead at 371, Jos Buttler and Dom Bess picked up just 17 scored off 56 balls, all the stranger given the previous batsman was trying to get runs left-handed.
The pair then struck three boundaries in the next nine deliveries, taking the lead past 400. It was 408 by the time both fell to Nadeem, and another 4.2 overs for an extra 11 as Ashwin took two in three balls to bring mercy to any impartial viewers wondering if they’d ever get back the last two hours.
The pay-off should be another thrilling conclusion this week. After West Indies chased 395 against Bangladesh in Chattogram on Sunday, and Pakistan triumphed in Rawalpindi as South Africa momentarily dared to chase 370, all eyes will be on Chennai come Tuesday for a hat-trick of nerve-shredding finales.