England may need to review their use of the review system following a tough first day in Rajkot in which both of India’s centurions might have been removed with smarter use of the technology.
Neither were straightforward, it should be stressed, and one was both late to be spotted and may still not have been given out by Rod Tucker, the third umpire. Nevertheless, with England having been put to the sword by Rohit Sharma’s 131 and an unbeaten 110 from Ravindra Jadeja, and the series locked at 1-1, they could yet prove telling.
Jadeja’s was the more clear cut as India closed on 326 for five, the returning all-rounder on 93 when struck in front by Tom Hartley during the final session. An appeal was turned down by umpire Kumar Dharmasena on the field, perhaps believing there was a bat involved. Replays pointed to it being pad first, however, with Hawk-Eye, which Ben Stokes queried after the defeat in the second Test, returning three reds.
Sharma’s “reprieve” on 87 caught everyone by surprise, India’s captain sweeping Rehan Ahmed and the ball deflecting up into his helmet, with England’s appeal stifled. It wasn’t until the broadcasters brought up a replay three overs later that it was shown to have struck the right-hander’s forearm and would have gone on to hit leg stump.
On this occasion, Tucker may have been forced to stay with his on-field colleague due to a small murmur on Snicko that could have been interpreted as a flicker of glove. Either way, Paul Collingwood, England’s assistant coach was philosophical after stumps.
“We don’t generally have too much structure in this team,” replied Collingwood, when asked if the team has a protocol to decide when a decision should go upstairs.
“We have some very experienced cricketers out on the park. [Ben] Foakes is in a pivotal position [as wicketkeeper]. The bowler themselves can get pretty emotional. Usually someone square of the wicket will give an indication of how high a ball is, whether it hit the pad first, that kind of stuff.
“That pad-bat off Jadeja at the end, even the umpire didn’t pick that up, and all 11 players out on the park didn’t either. It can be frustrating but you have to crack on and try to create more chances.”
One genuine chance did go to ground on the day, hard though it was, when Joe Root was unable to grasp a low catch at slip. Hartley had found the edge of Sharma’s bat when on 27, Collingwood offering the usual explanation that no fielder means to grass a chance and creating more is the only solution.
While Collingwood had earlier presented Stokes with a new cap denoting his 100th Test, it was another Durham cricketer who shone for the tourists, Mark Wood delivering three wickets on his return to the side, bowling with pace, and pulling off the late run out of Sarfaraz Khan to keep his side in the hunt.
Collingwood added: “It’s a great moment for [Stokes]. I’ve known Ben since he’s been a young whipper-snapper. I’m sure he’ll not be overly bothered about 100 Test caps but you could see today once I was speaking he was pretty emotional to receive that cap.
“[And] Woody has a massive heart on him. To bowl the pace that he does whenever the skipper throws him the ball – he’ll always do what he wants him to do.”
