Jasprit Bumrah again demonstrated why he is the key to India’s pace attack, producing a masterful five-wicket haul to maintain the visitors just ahead in the first Test against England at Headingley. Although his 5/83 may read well on paper, they barely represent the amount of frustration he had to endure, as the Indian slip cordon had their day to remember. Three obvious opportunities were thrown away off his bowling a rare fumble by Ravindra Jadeja and two expensive drops by Yashasvi Jaiswal. But Bumrah kept his cool, not opting to display visible annoyance. In a post-match interview with the BBC, he attributed the challenging conditions and stuck to the positives.
“I am disappointed for a second when catches are dropped. It’s a part and parcel of the game, and the guys are new and working so hard. I don’t want to create a scene and put more pressure on them. Nobody is doing it intentionally, so they will learn from this experience.”
“Sometimes the cold makes it difficult to catch. I try not to let it affect me and move forwards quickly.”
On Day 2, Bumrah was the sole silver lining for India, taking all three wickets to fall. Day 3 saw some respite as Prasidh Krishna took three wickets and Mohammed Siraj added two. Still, both support pacers lacked control, conceding runs and allowing England to considerably narrow the gap in the first innings.
India, who had put up a commanding 471, saw England respond strongly with 465, thanks to Ollie Pope’s resilient 106 and Harry Brook’s entertaining 99. Brook, dropped three times, made the most of his reprieves before falling short of a deserved century. As England’s lower order dug in, Bumrah came back for one last spell and swept through the tail in style taking down Chris Woakes’ stumps and then bowling out Josh Tongue to take his 14th Test five-wicket haul.
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In comparison to Bumrah’s precision and control, other Indian pacers fared poorly in building pressure. The English tail contributed 112 vital runs, a stark contrast to India’s own lower-order meltdown, in which the last five wickets were lost for only 18 runs.
At the end of play on Day 3, India were 90 for 2 in their second innings, taking their overall lead to 96. KL Rahul remained unbeaten at the score of 47, with Shubman Gill by his side as the game enters a pivotal fourth day.
