It was too good to be true even for Mohammed Siraj. He was busy trying to convince umpire Joel Wilson that he had trapped Rehan Ahmed in front. The umpire meanwhile, pointed his finger, not to signal out but to attract Sirja’s attention. The bail connecting the off and middle stump was lying on the ground. The batter, Ahmed, was as surprised as anyone. It came out of the blue. The Jasprit Bumrah yorker to Ollie Pope would take some beating but few would have imagined that Siraj would produce a close contender as early as the next Test.
It was a different Mohammed Siraj in this Test. The One who struggled for his lines in the first Test in Hyderabad, transformed into the fast bowler who has made a name as Bumrah’s No.2. It was evident with the way he started to Ben Duckett with the new ball on Day 2. But the left-hander survived the initial two overs and then got stuck into the Indian bowlers.
Siraj, however, continued to be good. He dismissed Pope with brilliant a nip-backer after captain Rohit set-up a short-ball trap. But he reserved his best for the second session on Day 3. Siraj dismissed Ben Foakes with a slower one The England keeper chipped it mid-on after looking so good in the latter part of the morning session.
In the last ball of Siraj’s next over, came the wow moment. The ball tailed in from outside the off stump, not as much as Bumrah’s one to Pope, but enough to bamboozle Ahmed, who was looking to be positive. The ball snuck underneath Ahmed’s bat and hit the off stump. The sight was not as dramatic. The stumps stood their ground but the bail was dislodged. The job was done.
Siraj produced another good yorker to James Anderson to finish off the England innings at 319. He returned with figures of 4/84, the best by an Indian bowler in this innings.
The tourists resumed on 207-2 in reply to India’s 445 but lost two wickets in the space of six deliveries inside the first 30 minutes.
Jasprit Bumrah struck in the fifth over of the day when Joe Root attempted a reverse scoop and Yashasvi Jaiswal caught it at second slip.
Kuldeep got Jonny Bairstow trapped lbw for a duck and the batsman burned a review for England, with replays suggesting the ball would have hit middle stump.
The left-handed Duckett got to 150 but came to a tame end when he chased a wide delivery from Kuldeep to give away a catch to cover fielder Shubman Gill.
Duckett smashed 23 fours and two sixes in his 151-ball knock, which punished the Indian bowlers on day two after Ashwin got the other opener Zak Crawley for his 500th wicket.
Ashwin left the Test midway due to a family emergency hours later and Devdutt Padikkal came in as substitute fielder.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India announced Ashwin’s withdrawal late Friday, with vice-president Rajeev Shukla saying he had rushed to Chennai “to be with his mother”.
The five-match series is level at 1-1 after England won the opener and India bounced back in the second match.
