The fourth match of the five-match Test series between the India National Cricket Team and the England National Cricket Team is underway at the Jharkhand Cricket Association Complex in Ranchi. The second last match of the five-match series between the teams commenced on Friday (23rd February).
The two days of the game so far have been nothing short of exceptional. The game so far has seen England having an upper edge in the game. India kickstarted the game on high and bossed two sessions of Day 1 but after that, it has been all about the visitors.
The series has thrown punches at every stage and it won’t be a surprise if there will be another one on Day 3. The third day of the game is often termed as moving day and with the way things have panned out, the game promised an exciting finish.
On Day 2 of the game, England started off pretty well with the bat as Ollie Robinson (58) completed his half-century and along with Joe Root (122*) completed a 100-run partnership. As things were getting frustrating for India, Ravindra Jadeja provided the breakthrough and then ran through the tailenders.
England got out for 353 runs and then they had a valiant start with the ball. James Anderson oozed his class with the ball and removed Indian skipper Rohit Sharma for just 2 runs to jolt the hosts earlier. After the young guns in Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill rejuvenated the innings.
While Jaiswal scored 73 runs, Gill ended with an innings of 38 runs as the duo added 82 runs together for the second wicket. But after the right-hander got out, things changed drastically for the hosts as they lost wickets quickly and England tilted the game in their favor with Shoaib Bashir being the star with the ball.
Rajat Patidar (17), Ravindra Jadeja (12) Sarfaraz Khan (12), and Ravichandran Ashwin (1) lost wickets early as the hosts were reduced to 177/6. With all the pressure on India, Dhruv Jurel (30*) and Kuldeep Yadav (17*) made sure that India didn’t lose any more wickets on Day 2.
Dhruv and Kuldeep added an unbeaten 42 runs and made sure that India went past 200 runs. At stumps on Day 2, the Rohit Sharma-led side was 219/7 and were trailing England by 134 runs.
IND vs ENG: Pitch Report and Weather Report for Day 3
Speaking after the end of Day 2 of the Ranchi Test, England batter Joe Root while talking about his innings also gave insights on the pitch. He said that with the way the pitch played, it is expected to deteriorate as the day progresses. Speaking to broadcasters, he explained:
“We had a good couple of days. That’s how I play every game really, play according to the situation and conditions (when asked if he made a conscious effort to play attritional cricket). It looks like the pitch will keep deteriorating.”
India batting coach Paras Mhambrey also talked about the pitch and said that they didn’t expect the pitch to slow down on Day 2 itself. By the words of both Root and Paras, it seems that batting will get difficult on Day 3.
Talking about the weather in Ranchi, there were some clouds around the ground on Day 2. The Day 3 of the game might also see cloud cover but there are very less chances of rain. The temperature is expected to be around 21° and the humidity will be around 66% during the day.
