Manchester, England— India’s problems in the ongoing fourth Test against England got a lot worse on Saturday when their second innings started with a disastrous collapse, losing two wickets for 0 runs in the first five balls. This terrible start at Old Trafford happened right after England declared their first innings at a huge 669, giving them a 311-run lead. India’s top order fell apart nearly right away, putting them in a sticky pre-lunch situation and making them look like they were going to lose badly.
Chris Woakes, England’s steady fast bowler, led the way in the destruction. Yashasvi Jaiswal, the in-form left-handed starter, was the first to go. Woakes threw a ball that straightened out just enough to snag Jaiswal’s edge and send it to the slips. Joe Root made a quick mistake at first slip that almost cost England the game, but he held on and sent Jaiswal back to the pavilion for a duck.
The horror show for India went on with the next delivery. Sai Sudharsan, who was playing in only his second Test match, misunderstood what looked like an innocuous delivery from Woakes. He gave Harry Brook a delicate edge at second slip, and Woakes got his first double-wicket maiden in the opening over when he left for a golden duck. Captain Shubman Gill was able to survive the hat-trick delivery, but the damage was done, and India is now on the verge of losing a Test match that seems to be slipping away quickly.
England’s bowlers take advantage of the conditions, but India’s fast bowlers don’t seem to have any teeth.
The two teams’ bowling performances have been very different from each other during the contest. England’s fast bowlers, spearheaded by Woakes and Jofra Archer, kept getting a lot of bounce and lateral movement from a surface that, at times during India’s bowling effort on Day 3, had seemed disappointingly lifeless. England’s seamers always looked sharp, focused, and dangerous, whereas India’s pace attack seemed mostly impotent, not putting on as much pressure or getting as many breakthroughs.
Stuart Broad says that “mental and physical tiredness” caused early Indian wickets.
Stuart Broad, a former great bowler for England, had a sympathetic but perceptive view on India’s terrible start with the bat. During the lunch break on Day 4, Broad told JioCinema that the Indian hitters’ early dismissals were directly caused by mental and physical exhaustion, since they had just endured 158 tough overs in the field.
“New legs, new bowlers.” Broad said, “If you let your bowlers sleep for two nights during a Test match, they will come out and make the ball talk.” He saw Jaiswal’s response when he hit a shot: “It’s an intriguing one, Jaiswal. He tried to cut one on the second ball and missed, and then he shook his legs right away. When you have lactic acid in your legs, you know what to do: shake them out and get some feeling back. That made me think he was fatigued mentally and physically and was trying to wake himself up.
Broad went on to talk about Sai Sudharsan’s firing, saying, “Sudharsan… it was complete mental and physical tiredness, which is completely understandable given that you were fielding for over 160 overs in your second Test match.” His words show how hard Test cricket is and how long periods of time in the field may affect a batting order.
KL has to do it Rahul and Shubman Gill Are Worried About Rishabh Pant’s Injury
Earlier in the day, England’s big first innings total was mostly down to skipper Ben Stokes’ century, which was a counter-attack. His innings and five wickets on Day 2 pretty well put England in the lead in the contest. India went to lunch with only one run on the board, and they were down 1/2.
KL Rahul and Shubman Gill, India’s two most experienced hitters, are now under a lot of strain because the top order fell apart so soon. They have to deal with England’s early attack and bring some much-needed solidity to an innings that has started off very badly.
The fact that Rishabh Pant’s availability to bat in the second innings is becoming less clear is making India’s problems much worse. Pant broke his toe on Day 1 while trying to reverse sweep Chris Woakes, but he boldly came out to bat in the first innings even though he was clearly having trouble moving around. India is already two wickets down and their batting order is shaky. The team management has a tough and important choice to make: should they risk Pant again and possibly make his injury worse if the collapse continues, or should they keep him safe and make their already weak batting order even weaker? The result of this match, and maybe even the series, is now very much up in the air.