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ENG v IND, 5th Test: Pant’s marvellous 146, Jadeja’s unbeaten 83 propel Ind’a to 338/7

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2 years ago

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Rishabh-Pant

Rishabh Pant played one of the best knocks by an Indian Test batter in overseas conditions, a marvellous 146, as he and Ravindra Jadeja (83 not out) figured in a magnificent counterattack to propel India to 338/7 in 73 overs on day one of rescheduled fifth Test against England at Edgbaston on Friday.

At 98/5, India were in all sorts of trouble, staring at a total that would have been way less than what they expected. But Pant and Jadeja shared a counter-attacking stand of 222 runs off 239 balls, with Pant producing a knock that will be remembered for long while Jadeja played the second foil to perfection.

England were stunned, bereft of ideas as Pant was spot-on with his targets to attack and then dominate a tiring bowling unit. Just like how the New Zealand pair of Daryl Mitchell and Tom Blundell frustrated England in the recent series, Pant and Jadeja did the same in a brilliant rear-guard act. Such was the impact of Pant’s 146, his fifth ton in Test cricket, that head coach Rahul Dravid co’ldn’t stop himself from erupting in joy with hands aloft in the dressing room.

His knock had everything one would expect in a typical Pant knock: timing, calculated control, judicious shot selection, drives, pulls, flicks and one-handed heave, falling over but managing to clear the fence. He capitalised on the over-pitched deliveries, toyed with Leach’s line and length and didn’t play a shot in anger or in a sudden rush of blood.

Friday at Edgbaston was a mix of gloom and shine in terms of the weather. When it was gloomy, England made hay but when the sun came out, Pant and Jadeja basked in scintillating stroke play to put India on top. Electing to bowl first, England got very little movement as they found only 0.61 degrees of average swing in the first ten overs.

But that was of little value as Shubman Gill, who hit four attractive boundaries, looked a little tentative to balls outside the off-stump, edging a couple of them which didn’t carry to the slip cordon. James Anderson’s persistence bore fruit when he got rid of Gill with a ball the batter should have left on line and length, but poked at it and nicked to second slip.

Anderson struck again when his fuller ball swung late and had some extra bounce, which took the shoulder edge of Cheteshwar Pujara’s bat to second slip. After a rain delay of nearly one-and-a-half hours, Hanuma Vihari, who called this venue home when playing for Warwickshire last year in County Championship, was trapped lbw by a full nip-backer from Potts.

Virat Kohli tried to leave after playing forward defence against Potta. But he was late in withdrawing the bat, which resulted in him chopping onto his stumps off the bottom edge. Shreyas Iyer was aggressive in his start, taking three boundaries, but he gloved a short ball off Anderson to leg-side and wicketkeeper Sam Billings dived to his left, completing a stunning one-handed catch.

England were on top at that juncture. But there was very little idea that despite losing half of the side even before touching the 100-run mark, India would end day one on top, thanks to Pant and Jadeja. The duo began the revival job by keeping the scoreboard ticking through strike rotation and some exquisite shots. As Anderson and Broad went fuller in their lengths, boundaries came in. Jadeja slammed two glorious on-drives and an eye-catchy off-drive, presenting the full face of the bat while Pant brought out a punchy drive through cover.

With the Dukes’ ball going soft after 30 overs and with a ball change in between, the path to fightback opened for India when Jack Leach’s re-introduction in the 37th over got Pant to step out and drive through long-off for a boundary. Leach dropped it short on the very next ball and Pant rocked back to pull for another boundary.

Pant brought up the half-century of his association with Jadeja by dancing down the pitch to slam a six down the ground. Six overs and a boundary later, Pant reached his fifty in 51 balls off Leach with a sublime whip coming off the backfoot to beat deep square leg easily to seal the second session in India’s favour.

The duo began the final session by hitting four boundaries in the first three overs. The pick of those boundaries was Pant collecting a pair of back-foot punches through point off Potts. When Potts tried to trouble Pant with short-pitched stuff, he got in line of the ball and pulled comfortably through fine leg successive’y. Anderson and Leach’s thrashing continued as Pant got his century after diving for the second run off Broad. In the same over, Jadeja pushed to mid-on for a single, reaching to his fifty.

After getting his century, Pant smacked Leach for two fours, one of which was an overthrow, and as many sixes, one of them his trademark one-handed stroke. Even Joe Root’s part-time off-spin wasn’t spared by Pant, carved over extra cover and a fast bouncer swivelled over fine leg for boundaries.

After Jadeja pulled Stokes through sq’are leg to bring up India’s 300, Pant went for a big slog-sweep after smacking Root down the ground. But with Root firing a slower, wide delivery, the ball took the edge to the lone slip fielder. Stokes had another wicket when he bounced out Shardul Thakur. But Jadeja ensure’ that another wicket didn’t fall till stumps arrived, to make day one truly India’s day.

Brief scores: India 338/7 in 73 overs (Rishabh Pant 146, Ravindra Jadeja 83 not out; James Anderson 3/52, Matthew Potts 2/85) against England

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International

CT 2025: India to take on Pakistan on Feb 23, likely to play in Colombo or Dubai: Sources

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3 days ago

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December 19, 2024

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New Delhi, Dec 19: The much-awaited clash between arch-rivals India and Pakistan in the Champions Trophy 2025 will be played on February 23 with Colombo and Dubai front-runners to play host for India’s matches in the tournament being played in hybrid format. The development comes after the ICC Board said that “India and Pakistan matches hosted by either country at ICC Events during the 2024-2027 rights cycle will be played at a neutral venue.”

“India will take on Pakistan at a neutral venue on February 23, 2025. ICC looking at Colombo and Dubai to host their matches.”

The Champions Trophy is scheduled to be played in February and March 2025. Meanwhile, ICC said the schedule for the marquee tournament will be confirmed in the coming days.

Pakistan are the defending champions of the tournament, having defeated India by 180 runs in the final at The Oval in 2017. Both teams last played against each other in the T20 World Cup in New York earlier this year which India won by six runs and went on to claim their second silverware in the format.

Due to the strained political relations between the two neighbouring countries, India and Pakistan only play each other in international events including World Cups and Asia Cup. The last bilateral series between India and Pakistan was held in 2012-13 when the latter toured India for the five-match white-ball series.

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International

It’s OFFICIAL! All India vs Pakistan Matches At ICC Events To Be Played At Neutral Venue Till 2027

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3 days ago

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December 19, 2024

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India and Pakistan matches hosted by either country at ICC Events during the 2024-2027 rights cycle will be played at a neutral venue, the ICC Board confirmed on Thursday, 19 December. The schedule for the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 is set to be confirmed soon, with Pakistan aiming to defend the title they won in 2017.

The eight-team event will feature Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, New Zealand, and South Africa, alongside hosts Pakistan.

This will apply to the upcoming ICC Men’s Champions Trophy 2025 (hosted by Pakistan), set to be played in February and March 2025, as well as the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025 (hosted by India) and the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 (hosted by India and Sri Lanka).

It was also announced that the PCB has been awarded hosting rights of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in 2028, where neutral venue arrangements will also apply. Cricket Australia is set to host one of the senior ICC women’s events during the period 2029 to 2031.

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International

‘Our dream is getting fulfilled’: Coach Sumit Bhatia elated to see Kho Kho going global

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6 days ago

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December 16, 2024

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New Delhi, Dec 16: Coach Sumit Bhatia is all pumped up for the first edition of the Kho Kho World Cup scheduled to take place from January 13-19, 2025. Bhatia, who holds a distinct record of being the only head coach to have won the Asian Championship twice, believes that this historical step is an indication of the realisation of the dream to take the sport to the international level and help it gain global recognition.

Having been honoured with the best coach award by the Delhi government, Bhatia has been a part of various Indian teams’ success, including the 2016 and 2023 Asian Kho Kho Championship victories, and has trained players like Nasreen Shaikh and Sarika Sudhakar Kale. Both of them have been Arjuna Awardees.

Nasreen, who is also a part of the World Cup camp, is the only player who has played in two Asian Championships and won the gold. The coach-student duo is now gearing up for the global event.

Sharing how the journey of Kho Kho World Cup’s inception, the coach said, “We organised an international camp here before COVID happened, in 2020. Coaches and players from 16 countries came here and we gave them training. Now they will be coming here for the World Cup but this campaign started in that camp”.

He further said, “Around 30-35 countries were willing to play the tournament but we picked the best 20 teams for both men and women. Some countries have single teams while some have double teams but a total of 24 countries will be participating in the tournament. It was our dream to take Kho Kho to the international level and now we can see that our dream is getting fulfilled.”

He also lauded the launch of the Ultimate Kho Kho League and shared how the franchise-based model has helped the players and coaches gain recognition, while also bringing forward grassroot talent.

“When the Ultimate Kho Kho league started, I also joined Telegu Yodhas as their head coach and we also played the final. Players have gotten exposure through the league and it’s not just financial. Earlier we used to hesitate while admitting being a Kho Kho coach but today our players introduce us as their coach,” said Bhatia.

He added, “The league got so much coverage that wherever we go, the players are approached for autographs. So the platform of the league started a new world for both coaches and players and now not just India but the entire world knows us. Earlier we used to tell people about our game but now they know what is Kho Kho and Ultimate Kho Kho league and are also waiting for the third season.”

Bhatia also discussed the impact of sports science on Kho Kho and lauded the newly introduced technology and said, “We have benefitted a lot from it. Sometimes we don’t understand why a player is not performing well. But with the introduction of sports science, we now know about the details of the problem.

“For example, a player might be facing issues with his left leg while sitting and so, it gives us an opportunity to work on that weakness… Sports science has helped us in identifying the accuracy and weakness of a player. So it’s very beneficial for us.”

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