Relief for Anderson Intent for Pujara on Day 1st Day
The amount of stress put on the body by bowling fast was so harsh that James Anderson, at the end of the day's play, could barely show any energy. His answers in the end of the day press conference came softly, and he walked rather gingerly after spending nearly a full day's play entirely on the field.
This was his first game in over two months and clearly the body wasn't responding nearly as well as he would have liked. But the 33-year-old showed why his selection ahead of Chris Woakes was justified, by picking three wickets, and being the most consistent threat in the England bowling attack.
The conditions in Visakhapatnam were easily the toughest England's bowlers had faced on the tour so far. Cook's loss at the toss meant that England were staring at a full day's play against an in-form batting line-up on the best batting conditions that this pitch could offer.
Seam, swing and pace seemed like distant dreams. And with the spinners being countered very well by Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli, it made Anderson's return a tougher task. Yet, England could have been in a far worse situation had they not had Anderson on this pitch. The pacer first produced a ripper to get rid of Murali Vijay with a surprise snorter that had the opener fending to third slip.
"Every time I pitched it up he hit me for four, so I thought I'd bowl short. I've played against him before, so I knew there was always a chance with the short ball," Anderson said on Thursday (November 17). He then toiled long to get any hint of reverse swing going and later got Pujara for 119 before striking late to dismiss Ajinkya Rahane when the second new ball swung more under lights. These wickets didn't change the overall predicament for England but for Anderson, it was fruitful to get back to where he belonged.
"I've missed playing, I've missed taking wickets. That sort of feeling you can't get in any other walk of life. I struggle with it. To get among the wickets meant a lot," he stressed. "I've not even thought about my shoulder. It's the rest of my body that's in pieces right now. It's just general recovery. There are things I'll be doing to make sure it doesn't happen again," the pacer said.
Despite Anderson's efforts, England still conceded 317 on the first day against India as they couldn't find him consistent support at the other end. Pujara and Kohli were too good to waste the opportunity. The former would still consider his 119 well short of what he would have targeted. The latter continued to show the measure of restraint that he has shown while batting since the tour of West Indies.
The last two times he's crossed 100, he has gone on to double it. In Visakhapatnam too, he showed how he understands the need to bat for long periods in Test cricket and remained unbeaten on 151. To get to that, he was helped largely by a positive Pujara with whom he raised their highest partnership in Tests (226). For Pujara, an important aspect of their long stand was how the duo decided on the right time to attack.
"We were assessing the conditions," said Pujara. "We were also trying to figure out what their game plans were. You can't pre-decide about when you want to attack, especially when you are playing the Test format. When you are on the field, you communicate with your partner and once you feel this is the time when you can accelerate. It always depends on the situation, you just have to assess the conditions, assess the bowling, assess the game plan and then take a call," he said.
After the first drinks break in the morning session, the sense of urgency was palpable. Pujara struck three boundaries in the first two overs and then an eagerness to run harder between the wickets saw him being turned back by Kohli twice in the space of three balls. Moeen Ali's third over of the day saw Pujara using his feet constantly to throw England's best spinner off length while also picking eight runs. When Zafar Ansari erred in length, Pujara pulled him for a six and then jumped down off the very next ball and drove him for a boundary.
In Moeen's seventh over, Kohli did the reverse - going front first for a driven four and then going back quickly to dab one more. Pujara made the over better by using his feet to pick up another boundary. Together, they also batted out periods of play that saw them being tested by short balls, but ensured that they dominated the attack in every way possible. This was also Pujara's third consecutive hundred in Tests, with the strike-rate debate now seeming to be from a distant past.
For Pujara, the biggest change in his batting in recent times has been 'intent'.
"I think I've not changed much as far as technique is concerned. It's just the intent... I spoke to Anil bhai after the West Indies series and even during the New Zealand series. What he told me was that 'You've been scoring a lot of runs in domestic cricket, even in international matches.' The way I started off in the New Zealand series, I got 50s, 60s and 70s, and then I was missing out on the 100s. So what he told me is that there was nothing wrong the way I was batting, and probably the area I can improve on is the intent, and that's what I worked on," he said.
Both Pujara and Anderson expect the pitch to offer more turn or uneven bounce as the game progresses and India will be delighted to have exploited the luck gained at the toss.
This was his first game in over two months and clearly the body wasn't responding nearly as well as he would have liked. But the 33-year-old showed why his selection ahead of Chris Woakes was justified, by picking three wickets, and being the most consistent threat in the England bowling attack.
The conditions in Visakhapatnam were easily the toughest England's bowlers had faced on the tour so far. Cook's loss at the toss meant that England were staring at a full day's play against an in-form batting line-up on the best batting conditions that this pitch could offer.
Seam, swing and pace seemed like distant dreams. And with the spinners being countered very well by Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli, it made Anderson's return a tougher task. Yet, England could have been in a far worse situation had they not had Anderson on this pitch. The pacer first produced a ripper to get rid of Murali Vijay with a surprise snorter that had the opener fending to third slip.
"Every time I pitched it up he hit me for four, so I thought I'd bowl short. I've played against him before, so I knew there was always a chance with the short ball," Anderson said on Thursday (November 17). He then toiled long to get any hint of reverse swing going and later got Pujara for 119 before striking late to dismiss Ajinkya Rahane when the second new ball swung more under lights. These wickets didn't change the overall predicament for England but for Anderson, it was fruitful to get back to where he belonged.
"I've missed playing, I've missed taking wickets. That sort of feeling you can't get in any other walk of life. I struggle with it. To get among the wickets meant a lot," he stressed. "I've not even thought about my shoulder. It's the rest of my body that's in pieces right now. It's just general recovery. There are things I'll be doing to make sure it doesn't happen again," the pacer said.
Despite Anderson's efforts, England still conceded 317 on the first day against India as they couldn't find him consistent support at the other end. Pujara and Kohli were too good to waste the opportunity. The former would still consider his 119 well short of what he would have targeted. The latter continued to show the measure of restraint that he has shown while batting since the tour of West Indies.
The last two times he's crossed 100, he has gone on to double it. In Visakhapatnam too, he showed how he understands the need to bat for long periods in Test cricket and remained unbeaten on 151. To get to that, he was helped largely by a positive Pujara with whom he raised their highest partnership in Tests (226). For Pujara, an important aspect of their long stand was how the duo decided on the right time to attack.
"We were assessing the conditions," said Pujara. "We were also trying to figure out what their game plans were. You can't pre-decide about when you want to attack, especially when you are playing the Test format. When you are on the field, you communicate with your partner and once you feel this is the time when you can accelerate. It always depends on the situation, you just have to assess the conditions, assess the bowling, assess the game plan and then take a call," he said.
After the first drinks break in the morning session, the sense of urgency was palpable. Pujara struck three boundaries in the first two overs and then an eagerness to run harder between the wickets saw him being turned back by Kohli twice in the space of three balls. Moeen Ali's third over of the day saw Pujara using his feet constantly to throw England's best spinner off length while also picking eight runs. When Zafar Ansari erred in length, Pujara pulled him for a six and then jumped down off the very next ball and drove him for a boundary.
In Moeen's seventh over, Kohli did the reverse - going front first for a driven four and then going back quickly to dab one more. Pujara made the over better by using his feet to pick up another boundary. Together, they also batted out periods of play that saw them being tested by short balls, but ensured that they dominated the attack in every way possible. This was also Pujara's third consecutive hundred in Tests, with the strike-rate debate now seeming to be from a distant past.
For Pujara, the biggest change in his batting in recent times has been 'intent'.
"I think I've not changed much as far as technique is concerned. It's just the intent... I spoke to Anil bhai after the West Indies series and even during the New Zealand series. What he told me was that 'You've been scoring a lot of runs in domestic cricket, even in international matches.' The way I started off in the New Zealand series, I got 50s, 60s and 70s, and then I was missing out on the 100s. So what he told me is that there was nothing wrong the way I was batting, and probably the area I can improve on is the intent, and that's what I worked on," he said.
Both Pujara and Anderson expect the pitch to offer more turn or uneven bounce as the game progresses and India will be delighted to have exploited the luck gained at the toss.
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