Test matches in India, for a long time, followed a certain pattern. The first session, and with that the first day, is the batsmen’s.
You would expect the toss to be a big factor, with teams eager to bat first and post a massive first innings total. And when India win a toss and bat first, almost invariably, those who have grown up watching the game in the 2000s would be used to seeing big totals courtesy a power-packed batting line-up. For a long while through the first session, India’s 500th Test and Green Park, Kanpur seemed to be playing to that old script.
The pitch was a slow, low one. No surprises then when India opted to bat first. At the start, the screenwriters of this game weren’t looking to be funky. For a brief while, KL Rahul threatened to re-invoke Sehwag’s madness but his 39-ball 32 was cut short by Mitchell Santner’s sharp, quick turner. The edge was gobbled up by BJ Watling behind the stumps.
Cheteshwar Pujara and Murali Vijay don’t subscribe to this dash-dominate way of batting. The old-school slow-burners worked their way into the day with a calm and calculated approach. They weren’t going to make this seem like a slasher movie. Their plan was to knife the opposition slowly and with a lot more precision.
The heat was blazing in Kanpur but the slow-burn of Vijay-Pujara had the potential to scorch the visiting New Zealand side more. The heat at Kanpur was pretty sapping (even while simply sitting in an open press box) and you could empathise with the plight of the bowlers who were breaking their backs in the middle. At lunch, India went in at 105/1 after 31 overs. The stage was perfectly set for a long first innings of batting.
In most of these typically big Indian innings, you find that there are almost always two leading stars. And like in any good double-hero story, both stars complement each other well. If this was Fight Club, Vijay’s sombre narrator reprise made Pujara seem almost Durdenesque.
While Vijay was comfortable going at a strike-rate less than forty, Pujara was going at close to 60. The duo made sure the spinners weren’t allowed to dominate early. Santner found turn and bounce occasionally but it was countered with efficient cuts or flicks. The pacers were reduced to sideshows on the pitch, with Watling even coming up to the stumps for a couple of deliveries with Boult steaming in. The post-lunch session saw both Vijay and Pujara notching up their fifties during their 112-run stand. All three spinners had wet their feet by then, but neither looked particularly threatening against these two. All set for a big first innings total then, or so you thought.
The post lunch session saw some of the side characters now taking centre stage. None of their three spinners had bowled in India in a Test before but they announced themselves in this session. Mitchell Santner was the first amongst the three to be introduced and he got the wicket of Rahul as well but as the day wore along, it was Mark Craig’s off-spin that was increasingly giving Kane Williamson some control while Santner had the wickets to show. Craig was ready to float it up a little and vary his pace over a greater range than the other two. But it was Santner’s dismissal of Pujara that kickstarted the turnaround.
On 62, Pujara found himself in a bit of a tangle against a full delivery from Santner, and ended up chipping it softly back. While the manner of this dismissal was visibly soft, Kohli’s looked in contrast but was just as soft. Wagner, who had peppered Vijay earlier with short balls, tried the same against Kohli. While Vijay, had shown restraint in leaving them all alone, Kohli was intent in taking them on. The crowd was egging him on, and one pulled boundary didn’t satiate the thirst. Wagner bounced again, Kohli hooked again but this time got a top edge down to fine leg. The man nicknamed Monk watched on sagaciously from the other end.
But even he was prone to lapses in concentration, as he showed showing misjudgement in cutting a ball too close to his body and edging to the keeper, just before tea. And Ish Sodhi, too, had said hello now.
When Ajinkya Rahane, who had got a start and moved on to 18, inside-edged one from Mark Craig to short leg, New Zealand were on the brink of taking control of the day.
India had largely shot themselves in the foot rather than taking bullets from the opposition. At 209/5, India’s decision to solidify their batting line-up with an extra batsman rather than five bowlers seemed a wise one. Rohit Sharma was looking to attack whenever possible, even if it meant mishit boundaries off Craig, who actively encouraged this practice. The thought behind such batting wasn’t a sound one and soon enough Rohit chipped a loft gently to mid on after getting to 35.
The new ball brought with it further problems for India as Trent Boult found some sharp inswing. With the day’s play drawing to an end, Boult found more energy and ripped through Wriddhiman Saha’s defence with an inswinger before forcing an edge off a defiant R Ashwin (40). Boult’s swing was too good for Shami as well and the pacer finished with a five-over spell that hastened the end with the three quick wickets.
The start and the end of the day couldn’t have been more in contrast. New Zealand’s bowlers whisked away India’s chance to dominate their 500th Test, while setting this Test up beautifully. At 154/1, India had looked well set to dominate but when they ended the day at 291/9, they were left pondering of a wonderful chance squandered.
