Jadeja-Rahul smash classy fifties as India post 421 for 7 at stumps on Day 2 of opening Test

Ravindra Jadejas twolayered fifty and KL Rahuls mastery were at the heart of Indias 421 for seven a total which placed them several miles ahead of England after the second days play of the IND vs ENG 1st Test on FridayJadeja 81 batting and Axar Patel 35 batting who added 63 runs for the unbroken eighthwicket stand are at the crease at stumpsIndias lead has now swelled to 175 runs and England would find it tough to wipe that out once their turn to bat come on third dayBut Indias ascendancy to the top on a slightly tacky pitch was more tectonic and Jadejas risk managing abilities played a huge role in itIn one sense the situation was ideal for the lefthander who loves a scrap in the middle When Jadeja came to bat Rahul was in full flight and he joined the party with a few blows of his ownIn fact the initial 40 balls he faced produced 35 runs as India first closed the gap with England and then swiftly moved into the leadBut Rahuls dismissal for a 123ball 86 forced Jadeja to transform his approach Indias lead was still only 42 then and the home side needed him to bat long to construct more floors above that fledgling foundationJadeja did precisely that He slowed down indeed but not to that extend of confining himself into a shell and opened up whenever England bowlers erred in their lengthsA daring hoick off leftarm spinner Tom Hartley over longon for a six and a flowing offdrive off legspinner Rehan Ahmed for a four showcased his power and touchAlso ReadIfs buts and maybesEngland bowlers were all in spirit and optimism while bowling and appealing throughout the day but they lacked consistency in hitting the right spot except Joe Root who is more than a parttimer in these conditionsIt came as no surprise then that it was Root who put Jadeja in the most unpleasant situation during his knock The spinner wrapped Jadejas pads and umpire Paul Reiffel upheld the shout for legbeforeBut the DRS found a massive inside edge as Jadeja survived at 49 He duly completed his 20th Test fifty in 84 balls when he peeled three runs off RootThe only sore point during his otherwise assured stay was a calamitous mixup which resulted in the run out of R Ashwin as Jadeja sold a dummy jogging a few steps before turning his back only to find his spin bowling partner standing right next to himThough KS Bharat 41 81 balls failed to kick on the wicketkeeper batter helped Jadeja make 68 runs off 141 balls for the sixth wicket which expanded Indias lead in the IND vs ENG 1st TestBut regret will linger inside Bharat who recently made a hundred against England Lions for India A for he could not make his maiden Test fifty when the team was in a strong position and there was no real pressure on himHowever Bharat will not be the only India batter who will be nursing that feeling once they glance back at the days proceedings at the RGI StadiumRahul Shreyas Iyer and Shubman Gill all could have registered a more substantial score against their names hereRahul will be particularly disappointed as he was primed to score a hundred in his 50th Test Nonetheless his innings was marked by imperious timing and meticulous shot selection which made it ohsopleasing to watchHis fifthwicket alliance with Jadeja produced 65 runs in just 74 balls during the middle session of play pinning England on the backfoot Overall India made 87 runs during that period losing two wicketsThe effortless partnership ended when Rahul pulled a halftracker by Hartely to pick Ahmed the lone fielder in the deep at midwicketIyer 35 scratched around for a good part of his 63ball stay and seemed to have weathered the storm especially against pacer Mark Wood who tested him with a slew of shortpitched deliveriesBut Iyer let the opportunity to build on it slip away when he played a slog sweep of Ahmed to give a simple catch to Hartley at deep midwicket and the Mumbaikar will need efforts with more substance to fight for his place once Virat Kohli rejoins the squad from the third TestIn the first session Yashasvi Jaiswal could only add four runs to his overnight score of 76 before offering a lame return catch to Root and had he shown a bit of patience to settle down the lefthander could have notched his second Test centuryShubman Gill the other overnight batter reached 23 but a rather reckless slog sweep off Hartley ended in the hands of Ahmed at deep midwicketFortunately for Indian team it had the collective will to tide over those occasional setbacks to move ahead of England and push for a win from hereonWith agency inputs