Indian openers Murali Vijay and Gautam Gambhir laid the foundation of a draw in the first Test against England in Rajkot after taking their team to 63/0 at stumps on day two. The deficit is still a huge 474 after England posted a mammoth 537 on the board, but unless the Rajkot pitch starts misbehaving wildly in the next three days, a draw looks like the most likely outcome. If that does turn out to be the case, both teams would be quite happy with their batting, even if it is on a flattish pitch. But England would be the happier bunch, considering they were expected to lose this series 5-0.
Whatever happens over the next three days, an England loss is next to impossible. And that was confirmed as early as the fourth session of the match, when Ben Stokes and Jonny Bairstow led the visitors to 450/6 at lunch. Mathematically, England should have been bowled out by then, if India had not dropped the five catches that they had. Instead, England went on to post 537 on the board before eventually being bowled out in added time of the second session, with Stokes's bold and brilliant fourth Test century leading the way. The all-rounder added to the tons scored by Joe Root and Moeen Ali earlier in the innings.
When he was on 61, Stokes was dropped twice in quick succession by wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha in the morning session, which took India's tally of spilled chances to five. On 90, he got a big top edge while trying to slog-sweep Ravindra Jadeja, but the skier fell just inches away from the hands of a diving Virat Kohli, who had sprinting to take it from midwicket, when Murali Vijay at long-on could perhaps have reached it if the Indian captain had not called for it. On 104, his inside edge off Ravichandran Ashwin's delivery was too quick for Saha to read. On 110, he went for another slog and Vijay at long-on could not keep the ball in play while taking the catch, and conceded a six. In between all these chances, he survived a few close run-out opportunities.
Stokes had his share of luck in this first Test, but then he has made most of it too. The all-rounder, who is already being touted as the next Ian Botham – more than Andrew Flintoff ever was – played an entertaining knock, where he took on the three-pronged Indian spin attack with the only style of batting known to him: attack. This wasn't as good as his 258 in Cape Town earlier this year, but equally effective in terms of taking his team to a total from where they cannot lose. India might just be able to match England with the bat as South Africa had done in Cape Town, but Stokes has helped England lay down the marker in this series, one they were expected to lose 5-0.
The shots were all around the park and on both front and back foot. The left-hander never allowed the Indian spinners, nor pacers for that matter, to settle into their groove. When he realised he was running out of partners after Bairstow, Chris Woakes and Adil Rashid fell in the space of 23 runs, he became even more frenetic, switching to one-day mode and going for the scoops to fine-leg. Then, when he realised that No 9 Zafar Ansari was looking comfortable, he switched off for a while, regaining some energy, knowing he would have to bowl at some point in the day in temperatures north of 30 degrees Celsius. Finally, with two minutes to go before tea, he looked to work Umesh Yadav down to fine-leg, but only found an edge and gave a simple catch to Saha. His vigil had ended at 128.
Vijay and Gambhir then carried on with the exceptional batting that has been on display in this match. Both were extremely watchful, but also never hesitated to punish the loose deliveries. Ali, who tossed the ball up, got some good turn off the rough, but both Indian batsmen played him extremely well. It was a chanceless 105-minute unbeaten partnership in the late evening sun, which yielded 63 runs in 23 overs at a steady pace.
The pitch is expected to be at its liveliest in the first hour of day three – the moving day – before slowing down. Alastair Cook and the six bowlers he has at his disposal will be looking to exploit that to the fullest. Despite the good start provided by Vijay and Gambhir, the pressure is still on India's five full-time batsmen, more so on home boy Cheteshwar Pujara, who would know these conditions better than any of the 22 players. The Indians are up against it, and would do really well to go into Vizag for the second Test with the score still tied 0-0.
Brief score:
England 537 (Ben Stokes 128, Joe Root 124, Moeen Ali 117; Ravindra Jadeja 3/86, Mohammed Shami 2/65, R Ashwin 2/167) lead India 63/0 (Murali Vijay 25*, Gautam Gambhir 28*) by 474 runs.