Lokesh Rahul missed out on a double century as India posted 391/4 in their first innings at stumps on the third day of the fifth and final cricket Test against England.

The hosts now trail by 86 runs England’s first innings score of 477.

At the close of the day’s play, Karun Nair was batting on 71 with Murali Vijay (17 batting) at the other end.

Rahul missed out his maiden double-century as he was dismised while on 199.

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Rahul’s fellow opener Parthiv Patel scored 71 to register his sixth half-century in Test cricket.

For England, Stuart Broad, Moeen Ali, Ben Stokes and Adil Rashid claimed a wicket each.

Rahul batted brilliantly over 311 balls for his 199, hitting 16 boundaries and three sixes along the way.

But nerves and impatience got the better of him a single run short of his double-century as he went after a wide delivery outside the off-stump. The ball kissed the top edge of the bat and ballooned up for an easy catch for Jos Buttler at cover.

Rahul’s score is the second highest by an Indian opener against England after the Sunil Gavaskar who had piled up 221 at the Oval in 1979.

A total of nine batsmen have been dismissed on 199 in Test cricket. Rahul is the second Indian on that list after Mohammad Azharuddin, who was dismissed on that score against Sri Lanka in Kanpur on December 17, 1986.

Rahul has now notched up four Test centuries since the start of 2015, the most by an Indian opener over that period.

His four centuries have come off 17 innings. Over this period, Murali Vijay has notched up three tons in 26 knocks and Shikhar Dhawan two in 16.

Earlier, resuming the day at 60/0, Rahul and wicketkeeper-batsman Parthiv Patel completed their respective half-centuries as the hosts gave a perfect reply to England’s handsome first innings total.

Patel, who has shown excellent form with the bat after returning to the Indian team following a gap of eight years, scored 71 runs before stepping out to Ali only to top-edge a spinning delivery to Jos Buttler at cover.

Patel’s 112-ball stay in the middle contained seven hits to the fence. This was his sixth half-century in Test cricket.

Rahul and Patel made their intentions clear from the very beginning, as the latter drove brilliantly towards mid-on off a delivery from pacer Stuart Broad in only the second over of the day.

Then, it was Rahul who hammered two sixes — both over long-on — in the third and fifth over bowled by left-arm spinner Liam Dawson. Broad too was at the receiving end of the punishment from Rahul and Patel.

As the duo reached their 100-run stand with smooth batting display, the runs came at a steady clip.

Parthiv, who scored his sixth 50 in Test cricket, hit seven boundries during his 71-run knock that ended when the left-hander top-edged a spinning delivery from Moeen Ali to Jos Buttler at cover.

Rahul was unbeaten on 133 runs at tea with Karun Nair on 19 at the other end.

India lost the wickets of Cheteshwar Pujara and skipper Virat Kohli cheaply between the lunch and tea breaks.

Pujara edged a Ben Stokes delivery to Alistair Cook in the slips while Kohli’s attempted drive off Stuart Broad found Keaton Jennings at extra cover.

Karun Nair joined Rahul at the crease following Kohli’s departure and the duo proceeded to consolidate India’s position with a 161-run stand.

IANS

India’s premier off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin led from the front, claiming three wickets to reduce England to 78/4 at stumps on day three of the third Test. In India’s first innings Ashwin (72), Jadeja (90) and Jayant Yadav (55) helped India take 134-run lead.

England kept losing their top order — skipper Alastair Cook (12), Moeen Ali (5), Jonny Bairstow (15) and Ben Stokes (5) — in quick succession, to still trail by 56 runs.

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Joe Root, who opened the innings in place of injured Haseeb Hameed, was unbeaten on 36 along with night-watchman Gareth Batty (0) when the umpires removed the bails.

Brief Scores: England 283, 78/4 (Joe Root 36 not out, Jonny Bairstow 15, Ravichandran Ashwin 3/19) vs India 417

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Off-spinner Moeen Ali put India on the backfoot, claiming three quick wickets in the morning session as the hosts reached 415/7 at lunch on day two of the second Test against England at the ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium.

Resuming at 317/4, India started well with skipper Virat Kohli and all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin taking India over the 350-run mark before Ali removed Kohli for a brilliant 167 and then dismissed stumper Wriddhiman Saha (3) and Ravindra Jadeja (0).

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Ashwin (47 not out) and debutant Jayant Yadav (26 not out) were at the crease when the umpires called for lunch.

Brief Scores: India 415/7 (Virat Kohli 167, Cheteshwar Pujara 119, Ravichandran 47 not out, James Anderson 3-62, Moeen Ali 3-77)

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Skipper Alastair Cook and debutant opener Haseeb Hameed put on an undefeated 114-run stand as England took a 163-run second innings lead at stumps on the penultimate day of the opening Test against India.

Read Pietersen warns England of Virat Kohli’s batting prowess

Signalling the end of the cold war with his successor Ravichandran Ashwin, seasoned off-spinner Harbhajan Singh on Thursday hoped the Chennai tweaker would shatter all records and predicted a 3-0 win for India in the ongoing five-match cricket Test series against England.

During the New Zealand series, Harbhajan had indirectly taunted Ashwin’s success with the cherry by raising fingers at the spinning pitches being made in the last four years.

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“Records are made to be broken and I wish Ashwin, (Ravindra) Jadeja and all others should surpass us with their achievements and wish the same for future generations too,” the 36-year-old told reporters on the sidelines of an Advanced Hair Studio (AHS) event.

“We have all the capable spinners in the team who can take wickets on any sort of track. What you need to do is just be more patient and bowl a tight line according to the field.

On Thursday, England went on to pile up a mammoth 537 with three of their batters — Joe Root (124), Moeen Ali (117) and Ben Stokes (128) — hitting big hundreds despite India playing three of their premier spinners in the XI.

Defending the Indian spinners’ inability to bundle out the visitors cheaply, Harbhajan said: “They are all good spinners but sometimes when you try too many things which don’t work in your favour. Its one of those days when you don’t click and I would wish them all the luck for the series, which still is very very young.”

“Every match is a new challenge and so is every series. England have a very good young side and we can expect a tough fight in the series. But I will still back India to win the series 3-0”

Commenting on the track at Rajkot, the Punjab spinner said: “To be honest, I haven’t seen the wicket yet, obviously I have seen the score which shows it must be a pretty good wicket to bat on.”

“Its a totally different track from what we have seen in the last five years, where teams have come and scored 500 runs in one innings.”

“I haven’t seen that in the last four years, either the wicket is really good or England have batted very well,” he added.

Harbhajan further revealed that he will return to cricket in Punjab’s next Ranji Trophy game from November 21 after spending “quality” time with his new-born daughter.

“Yea I took a break to spend time with my daughter and family. I will be back to cricket in Punjab’s next Ranji Trophy game from November 21.”

Asked if he is ready for the England series if the need arises, he said: “I am not ready at the moment but from November 21, I will be ready, no matter it is for the Test series or the ODIs.”

Medium pacer Mohit Sharma, who was also present at the event said he is currently focussed on leading the Haryana side back to the Elite group in the Ranji Trophy.

The 28-year-old is in great nick after taking two back to back five-wicket hauls in Haryana’s last two matches.

“Personally I am taking one series at a time. I am currently captaining Haryana in the domestic competition and the focus is on collecting as many points to get back to the Elite Group. So as of now, I am thinking more for the team rather than individual benefits,” he said.

IANS

India were 63/0 at stumps on the second day in reply to England’s massive first innings score of 537 runs in the first cricket Test match on Thursday.

Indian openers Gautam Gambhir (28 not out) and Murali Vijay (25 not out) were at the crease at the close of the day’s play at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium.

Earlier, England resumed the day’s action at their overnight score of 311/4.

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Ben Stokes (128) and Moeen Ali (117) hit centuries to put the visitors in a position of strength on Thursday.

Left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja (3-86) was the most successful bowlers for the hosts.
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With all eyes on the controversial Decision Review System (DRS) during the upcoming Test rubber against England, Indian vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane on Monday said the team’s primary focus is to play aggressive cricket rather than banking on the technology.

“It’s a completely new concept. We have to wait and see about DRS. We have been discussing about this from the last series against New Zealand and we have some plans,” Rahane told reporters ahead of the opening game starting on Wednesday.

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“But the main focus is to play good, attacking cricket and DRS will come later on. We want to dominate the series. We have been playing some very good cricket over the last one and a half years.”

Rahane further emphasised on the importance of maintaining consistency and continue with the momentum.

“It’s important for us to be consistent. Yes our aim will be to dominate all their bowlers and the more we do it the better. It’s (also) important to start well in Rajkot and continue the momentum,” he said.

“We are looking to play some good cricket. Right now we are focussed on building our strength and playing to our strengths,” he added.

After citing lack of accuracy and objecting to its usage in the past many years, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) finally agreed to use the DRS on a trial basis for the upcoming five-match series against the English team.

The 28-year-old also focussed on the importance of staying fresh in a long five-match series, which he felt also gave an opportunity to bounce back once a team finds itself on the backfoot.

“In a five-match series it’s important to be fresh till the last Test. We played a five match series in England in 2014 and got an idea about how to approach. That was a great learning experience as a young unit.”

“It was important to remain fresh till the fifth match. You get an opportunity to come back while playing a five-match series,” he explained.

Rahane also warned his side against any sort of complacency while facing the new-look England attack, specially against the slower bowlers.

“Playing against England will be a challenge. They have a decent side; their bating line-up is pretty experienced. Their batsmen have been here. Yes their spinners are new. Their bowling attack is comparatively inexperienced, especially the spinners,” he said.

“But I always believe you have to give respect to all opponents whether their bowling attack is new or experienced. For us it’s important to focus on our strengths and we will be playing to our strengths and potential. I am sure it will be a good series,” he added.

IANS

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Tuesday moved the Supreme Court seeking the release of funds for the first India-England Test at Rajkot from Wednesday.

The BCCI was barred from releasing any funds till it gave an undertaking to the apex court that it would comply with the recommendations of the Lodha Committee.

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Appearing before a bench of Justice Anil R. Dave and Justice A.M. Khanwilkar, senior counsel Kapil Sibal said that unless the BCCI was allowed to release the funds the Rajkot match on Wednesday between India and England would be cancelled.

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Ahead of the gruelling five-match Test rubber against India, former England batsman Kevin Pietersen has cautioned his side against the batting prowess of Indian skipper Virat Kohli, who is going through a purple patch in all formats of the game at the moment.

Considered among the top three batsmen in the world, Kohli has often drawn comparisons with young English batter Joe Root, which Pieterson feels isn’t a fair comparison.

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“Kohli is as good as it gets. He is right up there. Root has good numbers, but it’s unfair to even compare Joe with Virat because his numbers are just phenomenal. He plays so aggressively – sometimes it’s like – are you serious? The way he makes big runs for his team so often is just remarkable,” the swashbuckling right-hander was quoted as saying by ‘The Cricketer’ magazine.

With most touring teams failing to handle spin in sub-continent conditions, Pietersen had a piece of advice for the young English batters, who will be up against the formidable combo of off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin and left-armer Ravindra Jadeja alongside leggie Amit Mishra.

The 36-year-old said that England will have to watch out for the doosra from the Chennai offie, who can single-handedly change the course of a match in Indian conditions.

At home, Ashwin has been in red-hot touch, picking up 153 wickets in 22 Tests. His 27 wickets, helped India complete a 3-0 clean sweep of New Zealand in the recently concluded series.

“When I’ve played against him, I could pick his doosra, so I was OK. But if England’s batsmen can’t pick his doosra they’ll have issues. I was always looking to smash his offspinner.,” Pietersen said.

“The low bounce might make it harder, but that’s part of the challenge of playing in India”.

“Batsmen have got to find themselves a boundary option in India. It’s all about rotating the strike and manoeuvring the field. I was OK in India. I enjoyed it there. I made plenty of hundreds there.

“Ashwin is a good bowler. He uses his variations very well, especially the way he approaches the crease. He’s always looking to attack and outfox a batsman,” he added.

England last toured India in 2012, when they defeated the hosts 2-1 but the upcoming series will be an exciting battle as No.1-ranked India have made rapid strides in the longest format, while England are coming from a shocking defeat to Bangladesh.

The first match of the series will be played at Rajkot from November 9.

IANS

Former skipper Sourav Ganguly on Wednesday cautioned England from getting whitewashed in the upcoming five-match Test series, starting November 9 at Rajkot, when they face an in-form Indian side.

The legendary southpaw expects India to continue their superb form at home which they displayed during their 3-0 clean sweep of New Zealand in the recently-concluded Test Series.

“India are playing superb cricket. I am expecting another whitewash like the one against New Zealand. They (England) should be worried,” Ganguly told reporters here.

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Ganguly’s comments echoed former England captain Michael Vaughan, who on Tuesday had said England are bereft of top-class spin bowlers and their batsmen have struggled to combat the turning ball against Bangladesh.

Vaughan said England need to ‘park the bus’ in order to stave off the threat from the likes of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja.

Meanwhile, hot on the heels of Bengal’s back-to-back outright victories in the ongoing Ranji Trophy, Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) president Ganguly welcomed the boys home with a high tea session here.

It was announced that 21-year old pacer Amit Kuila, who has impressed with his performances so far in the Ranji Trophy will be sponsored by the CAB for his future endeavours.

IANS