Visakhapatnam: If white ball cricket is whiz-thud, slam-bang, Test cricket is pure and pristine. In Vizag on Monday, as this city is known in short, two consummate artists with the red cherry, Jasprit Bumrah and Ravichandran Ashwin bowled their hearts out to give India a 106-run win over England in the second Test.
Having lost the first Test in Hyderabad badly, the way India have bounced back has been tantalising. There has been plenty of buzz around a phrase which has become boring – Bazball! Well, if there was buzz and fizz, India provided it on the fourth day on a pitch which was hardly helpful.
The English experts, ranging from former cricketers to the Barmy Army have been raving about the Bazball. Bull crap, if there was fire and flourish, India provided it, through four men in this Test who cornered glory. There is no need to remind fans about the high value of the double ton which Yashasvi Jaiswal scored in the first innings and Shubman Gill’s return to form with a century in Vizag.
To be sure, the big deal was about how the Indian bowlers would get the wickets. A Test match win of this style needed 20 wickets, in all, to be taken. On Monday, the first day in a working week, the number of people who were watching the match was in millions.
Thanks to gadgets and gizmos, one can see cricket non-stop, even while working. It was compelling viewing on Monday where Bumrah and one man who has toiled for India in Test cricket close to 13 years, R.Ashwin, bowled their hearts out.
That Bumrah finished with a nine-wicket haul on this pitch, where conditions were hot and humid was the big story. But the narrative cannot stop without talking about the effort put in by Tam Bram Ashwin. People have said he has slowed down, he is not the best fielder.
Come on, Indian cricket has seen classy off spinners in the past like EAS Prasanna and S.Venkataraghavan. These two were masters of different nature. Prasanna was wily with his flight, loop, conceit and deceit.
Venkat was cunning, as in he bowled a nagging line and length. That was an era when Indian spinners were in bulk supply.
Modern day Test cricket is different. It is, indeed, fast and furious. There are more runs scored at a fast pace and the whole nature of the Tests has changed due to athleticism, a premium on fitness and how matches are now more gripping due to the use of technology based reviews. In such a scenario, for Ashwin to have reached 499 wickets is a massive.
Only Anil Kumble has bagged 600 plus Test wickets and the legend of Indian cricket, Kapil Dev, finished with 434 Test wickets.
Back to Ashwin, he is an artist, a delight and someone who innovates. If an artist resorts to paint, brush and weasel to produce the strokes on canvas, this man has improved his craft every day, every match, literally every over. He has been part of all formats of cricket, red and white ball but the Tests have seen him as lord and master.
The more one watches Ashwin, the more he offers in terms of variety. He experiments, he teases, he torments, and he also lets it rip. It is amazing to watch this 37-year-old go round the wicket and bowl to a right-handed batter. Then again, when Ashwin gets to his 500th wicket in the third Test, a certainty for sure, he will become a bigger legend.
He has won matches at home and abroad. Conditions have been varying for sure but Ashwin has evolved into a king, ready to handle the Duke ball as well as other varieties like SG and more. Each ball needs to be dealt with differently. In the end, it is his mastery which has got him and India wickets.
If Ashwin has been the guy to slog and also score valuable Test runs, Bumrah is a workhorse as well as a strike bowler. The English tail was wagging a bit on Monday afternoon. And, yet again, it needed that Bumrah burst to ensure India won the second Test. Deservedly, he won the man-of-the-match award.
For England Ben Foakes and Tom Hartley hung around, slightly irritating the Indians and the fans. The scent of victory seemed distant. Once the atomiser spray was pressed by Ashwin and Bumrah, it became a delight.
What a win for India, minus Virat Kohli, Mohd Shami, Ravindra Jadeja and KL Rahul. You can slam Rohit Sharma for not scoring runs and you can be harsh with Shreyas Iyer for scratching around with the bat. As a leader, Rohit commanded well and Shreyas’s fielding was top class. It’s alive and kicking, this five match Test series!