Umesh Yadav bears the brunt as India let initiative slip

Umesh Yadav bears the brunt as India let initiative slip

Three England batsmen scored hundreds in the first Test against India in Rajkot. It had happened only once before in England cricket history, in 1961. They also recorded the first 500-plus score in India by a visiting team in the last four years. The last time that happened was again by an England side in 2012, which was incidentally the last time India lost a Test at home.

At the end of the second day, when Ravindra Jadeja was asked which batsman - Joe Root, Moeen Ali or Ben Stokes - had taken the game away from India, he said: "I think the toss has taken the game away from us."

This was the first time that Virat Kohli had lost a toss at home. India have never conceded a first innings lead in a Test under him since he took over as captain full time. "If you see the Rajkot wicket, first two days it is very good for batsmen and then slowly it changes and helps spinners. Tomorrow is crucial and we have to play positive cricket," added Jadeja.

India are facing the kind of pressure that is usually imposed by them on oppositions. But it could have so easily been very, very different. As many as six catches were put down by the Indian fielders in England's innings of 537. And this isn't even counting the half-chances that fall under the category of 'could have been taken'.

Alastair Cook was dropped on nought and one by Ainkya Rahane and Kohli respectively. Haseeb Hameed was put down by Murali Vijay when he was on 13. Ben Stokes was dropped by Wriddhiman Saha on 61 and 62. In addition Rahane, at leg gully, got a finger on an inside edge from Stuart Broad. Stokes was almost caught at the boundary by Vijay, who popped it back in, when he was in danger of touching the ropes. Stokes and Bairstow would repeatedly chance their arm on the second day and saw top edges and miscues falling between fielders.

The bowler who felt the pinch the most though was not a spinner but Umesh Yadav. The pacer was picked ahead of the more senior Ishant Sharma for this Test and he did everything he possibly could to create chances on a pitch that wasn't offering much. On the first day he saw both Cook and Hameed being dropped in the slips off his new-ball spell. In the second day, Stokes was dropped twice by Saha, again off Umesh's bowling, both straightforward chances and both when the bowler was bowling perfectly to plan.

Stokes was being enticed to throw his bat at deliveries wide outside off. Kohli had a lone 'third slip', a gully, a short cover-point forming an arc and positioned himself at short extra cover. The man at cover was pushed halfway to the boundary, to stop strong drives. Stokes had reason to still go after the bowling thanks the confidence induced by England's scoreboard at that point.

Umesh would also go on to see Bairstow too fall under the category of 'almost had'. Twice in two deliveries, Umesh had Bairstow pulling. Once it lobbed off Pujara's pad at shortish square leg and just beyond Kohli's reach at short mid wicket. Soon after, another pull saw Jadeja reacting a trifle late at mid-on, and seeing the ball drop short.

But this wasn't all. When Root was in the 90, the only man who was still troubling him was Yadav, this time with reverse swing. He was struck on the pad and saved by the umpire's call on the LBW review. In Root's own words, he was "really lucky."

In a parallel universe, Yadav, is probably being feted lavishly for taking five out of England's top seven batsmen on a dead Rajkot pitch and England are definitely two hundreds fewer. Instead, he will look back at this match to see figures of 2 for 112 against his name in 31.5 overs.

"We've done that before a few times," said Moeen Ali at the end of the second day. "It can happen in cricket but it sort of sets the tone for the rest of the day. We had a decent start but things could have been a lot different if those catches were taken. These things happen in cricket. I'm sure they guys are working hard on their fielding but sometimes they are just put down."

"In cricket it has happened, for long, you drop catches over a period of five days. It has happened too that when you drop someone, that batsman has gone on to score a hundred. So that happened today as well. We got a few chances of Stokes, a couple were dropped a couple didn't go to hand, so it's a part of the game. At some point it happens to every team," is how Jadeja saw it as well.

As the game progresses, the focus will continue to be on the pitch. "As the game progresses, the wicket should slow down," Jadeja pointed out. "The footmarks from the two days at both ends should provide some help to spinners.

"(The) centre part of the wicket is the same and we hope it will stay the same. The ball was coming onto the bat yesterday and today, but it will slow down as the game goes on."

While Ali believed that low bounce will be the most challenging aspect from here on. There's still a long way to go in the game but when India look back at what went wrong in this game, they will probably start first by addressing the catching while also hoping to assuage the bitter pill that Yadav has to swallow.