England vs India: Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane and batting resilience keeps India alive

A sense of gloominess loomed over and Lord’s echoed as Joe Root chose to bowl under overcast conditions. Trent Bridge has always been a seamer’s paradise and England had two of the best in business. And when the players stepped out into the field, the game was England’s best opportunity to seal the series. But in contrast, it turned out to be India’s, their batting showing the kind of resilience that had disappeared out of sight ever since Edgbaston.

India finished at 307/6 batting all day and led by the skipper Virat Kohli gave themselves a fair chance to save the Test series that until now seems to have been swaying on one side. The captain was the top scorer with a splendid 97 but this was not a one-man show and instead, the whole batting unit combined and contributed.

Kohli, who on the day completed 10 years of senior international cricket fell three agonizing runs short of his 23^rd century but it was his 159-run partnership with Ajinkya Rahane – who made 81 – that rescued India out of trouble when the visitors seemed to be travelling the familiar route having lost three quick wickets after a solid 60-run opening stand.

Also Read: England vs India: Three quick wickets dent India’s progress; but Kohli-Rahane recover

It was India’s best opening partnership of the series and came from the third opening pair in as many matches. Shikhar Dhawan, dropped after a failure in the opening Test was recalled in-place of Murali Vijay and he beginning India’s battle for survival alongside KL Rahul, scored a fine 35 that had seven boundaries and came at a strike rate of 53.85.

Their determination and persistence to stay at the crease negated James Anderson and Stuart Broad’s threat and it was only after Chris Woakes was introduced, did the opening combo looked troubled. They were eventually undone by the all-rounder but not before giving India a solid start.

The visitors made the most of it with all of their middle-order batsmen but Che Pujara getting runs and it was only his wicket that put India in a spot of bother. After surviving an entire session of good seam bowling, the Saurashtra right-hander pulled a Woakes’ delivery straight into Adil Rashid’s hands with just two balls remaining for lunch.

India lost another three in the final session, but nothing post-lunch and in between tea for this is when the Kohli-Rahane combination batted with utter confidence, never for a moment looking troubled. They added 107 in that single session, both notching up their half-centuries and looked set for big scores, which could have easily drifted the game away from England.

Rahane though continued with his ambition of hitting one more extravagant cover drives and edged a wide ball off Stuart Broad, that left wicket-keeper Jonny Bairstow stranded but veteran Alastair Cook pounced a one-handed catch at first slip, to draw the important breakthrough.

Then Rashid Khan contend with bowling half-volleys and outside leg, suddenly found some turn outside the off-stump and it was enough to fox Kohli, who eyeing a century drove hard but only managed a nick to Ben Stokes at slip.

In stepped debutant Rishabh Pant and it took just two balls to show that he was no blocker but knew how to turn the pressure around. In his only second ball in Test cricket, the 20-year-old stepped out and clattered Rashid for a monstrous six, before teaming up with Hardik Pandya to help India cross the 300-run mark.