Kohli and India Fight Back in Chennai with 317-run victory over England

We’ve picked out four key moments for India’s victory.

Rohit Sharma’s Crucial 161

Having lost Shubman Gill, Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara early, it was important that the hitman steadied the ship on day one. Sharma’s partnership of 150 with vice-captain Ajinka Rahane proved to be crucial for setting up a very competitive first innings score of 329 with the pitch starting to misbehave.

It was as if the Indians had learnt from Joe Root’s innings in the first Test as they predominantly used the sweep shot in both their innings. Most Indian batsmen love to use their feet and wrists and play against the turn, but because of the pitch already starting to turn on day one, the Indian batsman were prepared to use the sweep shot, which is what Sharma did in his innings of 161.

Ravi Ashwin’s all-round performance

Ashwin showed us why he is such a valuable asset to the Indian Test side. Not only is he a top-quality finger spinner, but a reliable lower order batsman as well. his 106 from 148 balls ensured that the home side were in a position where they could not lose the game.

He showed his class with the ball in both innings, particularly the five-wicket haul in the first, where he bowled Ben Stokes with an absolute beauty, that pitched on middle and clipped off stump. What was so good about that wicket, was the way he deceived England’s number one all-rounder through the air. A classical off Spinner’s delivery to a left-handed batsman.

Captain Kohli’s Crucial 64

With a first innings lead of 195, it was at a stage where the home side needed to drive home the advantage. When they lost Sharma, Gill and Pujara early it would have given a glimmer of hope to England that maybe they could dismiss India quite cheaply and possible chase down a target below 100. But King Kohli denied them with that opportunity with a patient but crucial innings of 64, which wore down the pitch even more as well as England.

Rishabh Pant’s Wicketkeeping 

Pant is an exciting young talent with the bat, however, there have still been a few questions in the past about his keeping. In this Test, he did show that he has character by pulling of two great catches to

dismiss Ollie Pope and Jack Leach in the first innings, followed by two superb stumping’s to dismiss Dan Lawrence and Moeen Ali in the second innings.

He also scored a 77 ball 58 in the first innings. If he can continue to improve on his game, especially his keeping skills, he will with no doubt be able to fill MS Dhoni’s shoes as the permanent wicket keeper batman role in possibly all three formats. However, he will know that there are other contenders such as KL Rahul and Wriddhiman Saha waiting in the wings, so it will be interesting see if and how that affects him in the future.

As far as the next Test goes, it would be interesting to see how the hosts shape up. Presumably they may stick to the same XI, but it will also depend on the conditions next Wednesday in Ahmedabad.

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