Half-an-hour into the afternoon session in Hyderabad, just as distant English followers were rising from the land of nod, Kannanur Rahul launched Rehan Ahmed into the seats for a second time in the over to put India into the lead.
It may be only two days into this five-match series, but already it seems reasonable to fear the tourists might never claw their way back.
Today’s second day followed the pattern of the first, England toiling admirably to stay on the coat-tails of their hosts, but the gulf in class, in these conditions, simply too large.
Again, there was early promise, Joe Root striking with the morning’s fourth ball and Tom Hartley claiming a redemptive first Test wicket after his day-one woes. By evening, though, India were firmly on top, having again exposed a novice spin stock.
At stumps, the hosts’ first-innings lead stands at 175 with three wickets still in hand, and it might have been more had the home batters been as ruthless as they were, at times, rampant.
Yashavi Jaiswal added only four to his overnight 76, while Rahul picked out a lonely boundary fielder when on 86 and cruising towards a hundred, having seen Shreyas Iyer surrender an ominous start in similar fashion. Ravindra Jadeja, though, was less forgiving, unbeaten on 81 and still looking to extend as India turned 119 for one at the top of the day to 421 for seven at its close.
Ben Stokes had talked up the prospect of Root taking the new ball two days out from this Test, only to hand debutant Hartley what became a thankless task at the head of India’s reply, his nine overs on the first evening dispatched for 63 runs.
This morning, though, the skipper did turn straight to his predecessor — and with immediate success, the impressive Jaiswal out caught-and-bowled to a high return catch. Root would be England’s most threatening bowler throughout and two balls later conjured a second, sharper chance, the ball fizzing past the bat of Rahul on nought and tickling the edge on its way beyond the gloves of Ben Foakes.
Byes, though, were signalled and with England having burned all three reviews in an eye’s blink on day one, it may have proven a hard-luck story even had the keeper snaffled the chance.
Shubman Gill skied Root soon after for what would have been a simple catch had Stokes not lost the flight in some combination of sun and seats, but then rather gave his wicket away, chipping to Ben Duckett for Hartley’s first Test scalp.
Needing things to happen quickly with the ball, however, England were slow to stop the scoreboard’s advance, the inevitable inconsistency of youngsters Hartley and Ahmed easy pickings for batters so skilled at punishing soft spin.
Iyer had, rather optimistically, arrived at the crease in a cap and ready to tuck in, hoping England would resist the obvious temptation to test his short-ball weakness with the pace of Mark Wood. England’s sole quick, however, could not crack the nut, his infrequent deployment as a shock-and-awe weapon fruitless all day, despite late signs of reverse swing.
Jack Leach, by some margin England’s most economical bowler, was also used sparingly and only in brief spells, indication, perhaps, of caution with his workload after almost eight months out.
"Day two was a reminder that to live with this India side you have to do better than par"
He appeared to have Jadeja caught early at short-leg, only for DRS to overrule in the first of several close shaves either side of tea, Root probing and pleading for the umpire’s verdict with no reviews for support. Typically, when one briefly went his way and Jadeja was given leg-before, DRS detected a hefty inside edge.
Prior to the break, Rahul gifted Hartley a second wicket with another rash shot, a limp end to a fine innings from No4 that, coupled with a hundred in South Africa last month, ought to keep him in the XI somewhere even when Virat Kohli returns for the Third Test.
Srikar Bharat’s dismissal to Root, quickly followed by Ravichandran Ashwin’s messy run-out, offered hope at the top of the final hour, but India’s tail, in its own backyard, often wags and still there is work to be done.
Yesterday, many thought, justifiably, that England’s 246 all out was somewhere around par. Events since, however, have been a reminder that to live with this India you have to do rather better than that.
