India (396 & 255) defeat England (253 & 292) by 106 runs to win the 2nd Test - Series level at 1-1

[FearlessRoar]

England Captain Ben Stokes said during the post-match presentation of the 2nd Test against India:

"Coming into this last innings, had full belief in ourselves that we'll chase it down. In moments like that, in games with scoreboard pressure, that's where we get the best out of ourselves. Another great game to be a part of. There's no suggestion whatsoever about how to play."

"Everyone in the dressing room is a quality player. They are good enough to go out there and assess the conditions, and decide how to go about it. I absolutely loved it (captaining the spinners). To put in the performance they did yesterday was incredible. They showed a lot of maturity beyond the years. He's amazing (Anderson). Two guys who're incredible bowlers (Anderson and Bumrah)."

 

[FearlessRoar]

I think the whole difference was made by the innings of Zak Crawley in both innings he got out in 70+. If he was able to get 100+ then the difference of the runs will be less than 50 and that will be a close game.

 

[Rajdeep]

@Cpt. Rishwat looks like Bashir should have stayed back home. Then perhaps Eng would have won

 

[Buffet]

Bumrah was the difference between two teams. India would have certainly lost if he was not bowling that well.

 

[Smbhayi]

Why no umesh, Why discard him if so early if have no replacement, look anderson still playing, Why cant 35 year umesh cannot play, he would have mande huge difference withs his pace and reverse swing

He's 130-135+ k bowler these days..

 

[FearlessRoar]

India Cricket Head Coach Rahul Dravid in the media interaction post the 2nd Test against England:

"I think you have to accept at times when you want people to play a little bit positively, then you have to accept at times that people will make mistakes, right? If you want people to play with a little bit of intent and play a little bit positively, then you're going to have to accept a few mistakes. And at times people may not be able to convert some of the starts."

“It's just about reading the game and the game situation. I think it's about understanding, are we making the right decisions when to put the pressure, or are we recognizing that this is a moment where we need to soak in the pressure a little bit and maybe be a little bit more conservative rather than attack all out? And then is there a moment now to be able to attack and put the pressure on? So I think it's just that finding that balance."

"There's no perfect answer to one particular way to play. You have to also play the conditions. That's what I personally also do believe in."

"I do feel that we did leave runs on the board here. Again, I think, again, that's maybe a function of the fact that we do have a lot of young batsmen coming through, I think still figuring out Test cricket a little bit, but you don't have a lot of time to figure out Test cricket."

 

[Croma]

Bumrah 3-46... ufff.. His average must have reduced still further... Flabbergasting!

 

[Champ_Pal]

Mukesh Marshal justifies his place in the team by getting the all important wicket of Bashir Miya.

 

[U$ofA]

I think the key was India's 1st innings. Cannot believe that England let this India batting line up score 400. There are essentially two batsmen, Jaiswal and Gill. No Kohli, Rahul and Jadeja, a past it Sharma, and a bunch of nobodies.

This is where they lost the match. Bumrah's brilliance not withstanding.

I hope Mukesh and Patidhar are given the boot for the next test. Bring in Sundar and a pacer. I would say Iyer keeps his place for now. He just needs better shot selection. Otherwise in good touch.

England probably need to replace Bairtstow. Stokes needs to use his head while batting (and running).

All in all a well fought, closely contested test. I think the rest of the series is going to be the same. Good advertisement for test cricket.

 

[sweep_shot]

England fought well.

Their 1st innings performance came back to bite them. There was no Pope to bail them out this time.

 

[jnaveen1980]

I think the key was India's 1st innings. Cannot believe that England let this India batting line up score 400. There are essentially two batsmen, Jaiswal and Gill. No Kohli, Rahul and Jadeja, a past it Sharma, and a bunch of nobodies.

This is where they lost the match. Bumrah's brilliance not withstanding.

I hope Mukesh and Patidhar are given the boot for the next test. Bring in Sundar and a pacer. I would say Iyer keeps his place for now. He just needs better shot selection. Otherwise in good touch.

England probably need to replace Bairtstow. Stokes needs to use his head while batting (and running).

All in all a well fought, closely contested test. I think the rest of the series is going to be the same. Good advertisement for test cricket.

But when you look at England bowling guys like Iyer shoudl have made mincemeat of that attack. That is a horrible bowling attack they were up against. Failing against them is a big black mark

 

[U$ofA]

But when you look at England bowling guys like Iyer shoudl have made mincemeat of that attack. That is a horrible bowling attack they were up against. Failing against them is a big black mark

I agree. But he gets one more shot in my book. If he fails next match, he should be out.

 

[Savak]

Bhumra was and is the difference between the two teams. He is perhaps the only fast bowler in the world who can run through a team in all conditions.

 

[Ab Fan]

I think England's main experienced batters need to take up more responsibility. Root, Stokes and Bairstow need to step up and score more than just cameos.

They got a great start by winning the first test, India's biggest match winner or atleast second biggest in these conditions, Jadeja was not playing alongwith Kohli and the in form Rahul, this was a great chance for England to go 2-0 up. India basically played with 10 men because Mukesh was just a waste of space, that was another poor decision by Indian management/captain.

England needed a special knock from one of Root, Stokes or Bairstow in this game. Bumrah made the difference.

 

[James]

Jonny is under a bit of pressure imo. Foakes is showing that he is the far superior wicketkeeper, and Jonny meanwhile is finding some good starts but keeps getting out. He needs a score soon, because Harry Brook when he returns will be replacing somebody, and it looks like it will be Foakes or Jonny.

 

[jnaveen1980]

Jonny is under a bit of pressure imo. Foakes is showing that he is the far superior wicketkeeper, and Jonny meanwhile is finding some good starts but keeps getting out. He needs a score soon, because Harry Brook when he returns will be replacing somebody, and it looks like it will be Foakes or Jonny.

Foakes is a world class keeper. Those under edge catches are very difficult grabs for ordinary keepers. You have to be technically very good and also a keen observer of each bowler. You could see the gulf between KS Bharat and Foakes. In India keeper plays a very vital role.

 

[RexRex]

Jonny is under a bit of pressure imo. Foakes is showing that he is the far superior wicketkeeper, and Jonny meanwhile is finding some good starts but keeps getting out. He needs a score soon, because Harry Brook when he returns will be replacing somebody, and it looks like it will be Foakes or Jonny.

What happened was that there was nobody to needle him these last two tests. That problem is now solved, he looked peeved when Ashwin shouted in his face today after he got dismissed.

Get ready for a fired-up Johnny in Terminator mode for the 3rd test.

 

[Nikhil_cric]

But when you look at England bowling guys like Iyer shoudl have made mincemeat of that attack. That is a horrible bowling attack they were up against. Failing against them is a big black mark

It's not a horrible bowling attack. Anderson is very accurate and their spinners are fairly good. Good pace, decent revs and accuracy etc.

The problem is that Indian batters have struggled against left arm spin/leg spin since 2020.

The only Indian batters competent against right-to-left spin are

Jaiswal
Jadeja
Pant
Axar
KL

Rest are all average or terrible.

Out of these , Pant is gone and KL and Jadeja are both injured.


Jadeja in for Mukesh would strengthen both batting and bowling and KL in for Patidar would make this team stronger as well.

 

[Buffet]

In second test here was the experience of batsmen when they started the test,

Jaiswal - 5 tests
Sharma - 55 tests
Gill - 21 tests
Ayer - 13 tests
Patidar - 0 test

Total tests by 5 Indian batsmen - 94 tests

Root - 137 tests
Bairstow - 97 tests
Stokes - 99 Tests

So Eng had 3 batsmen who had played more tests alone when compared to entire Indian batting line up.

 

[jnaveen1980]

In second test here was the experience of batsmen when they started the test,

Jaiswal - 5 tests
Sharma - 55 tests
Gill - 21 tests
Ayer - 13 tests
Patidar - 0 test

Total tests by 5 Indian batsmen - 94 tests

Root - 137 tests
Bairstow - 97 tests
Stokes - 99 Tests

So Eng had 3 batsmen who had played more tests alone when compared to entire Indian batting line up.

Rohit himself is not a elite test batsman. India has played 104 tests since Rohit made debut. He played only 56 of them.

 

[MANU ROY]

I think England's main experienced batters need to take up more responsibility. Root, Stokes and Bairstow need to step up and score more than just cameos.

They got a great start by winning the first test, India's biggest match winner or atleast second biggest in these conditions, Jadeja was not playing alongwith Kohli and the in form Rahul, this was a great chance for England to go 2-0 up. India basically played with 10 men because Mukesh was just a waste of space, that was another poor decision by Indian management/captain.

England needed a special knock from one of Root, Stokes or Bairstow in this game. Bumrah made the difference.

No india play with 9 players bharat and Mukesh just passenger Mukesh at least get 1 wicket

 

[BouncerGuy]

It was a good fight from the English men but India proved too much in the end. Series is now level, lets see how it goes in the next game.

 

[sweep_shot]

England need to mix Bazball with a bit of traditionalism.

A balance is needed.

 

[BouncerGuy]

Rahul Dravid lauds individual performances after India's triumph

India head coach Rahul Dravid conceded that individual performances gave them their win in the second Test in Vizag.

India rode on the brilliance of Jasprit Bumrah, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill to go level in the five-match ICC World Test Championship series against England at home with a convincing win in Visakhapatnam on Monday, 5 February.

Admitting that India were under pressure in the game in a few situations, Dravid said that the individual performances helped them get the win.

"We were put under pressure at various times, but I think a couple of individual brilliances kept us in the game in the first couple of days," Dravid said at the post-match press conference.

"Yashasvi's brilliant innings, 209 in that first innings. And then Bumrah's spell really on the first two days kept us, or got us ahead by 140. And then, we needed a bit more of a team performance over days three and four to get us over the line."

Dravid, however, commented that India weren't truly dominating the game at any stage and that the team conceded good positions, especially with the bat.

"I don't think we were in any position at any stage in this game to ever think about putting pressure back on the opposition," Dravid says.

"So I think more than that [forcing the play], I think after we lost the first couple of wickets, we soaked the pressure really well to get that partnership, but we couldn't just capitalise on it enough."

"If we had got to tea at 250 for 4 instead of 230 for 6, we were 210 for 4 I think, and you just start getting comfortable and then you lose a couple of wickets and you're thinking, 'oh'."

The head coach also said that, like in Hyderabad, India did not get as many runs as they wanted to.

"At times, people may not be able to convert some of the starts, but for us, for me, it's not so much about, it's just about reading the game and the game situation," the former Indian No.3 said.

India surge up WTC25 standings after victory in Vizag

"I think it's about understanding are we making the right decisions when to put the pressure, or are we recognising that this is a moment where we need to soak in the pressure a little bit and maybe be a little bit more conservative rather than attack all out?

"I do feel that we did leave runs on the board here again."

With the win, India rose up the ICC World Test Championship 2023-25 table to the second position and a win percentage of 52.77%, just behind Australia (55.00%) at No.1.

Meanwhile, Ben Stokes stated that England had full belief in chasing down the target.​

"Coming into this last innings we had full belief in ourselves that we could go and chase that down," Stokes said.

"The way in which we go about taking on challenges like that is what we're about and the number of runs that we needed to get was just sort of another thing for us to try and try and chase down."

"And I thought the way in which we applied ourselves and really tried to put India's bowling attack under a lot of pressure was great. Unfortunately, we didn't end up on the right side of the result. Congrats to India, I thought they played a fantastic game and, again, another great game to be a part of."

ICC