Ind vs Eng: India resume first innings after tea on Day 1 in 2nd Test against England

November 23, 2012

Cheteshwar-Pujara

New Delhi, November 23: Cheteshwar Pujara and captain MS Dhoni resumed the Indian first innings after tea on the first day of the second Test at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Friday.

In the second session of the day, Graeme Swann clean bowled Yuvraj Singh for a duck in the over after Monty Panesar dismissed Virat Kohli.

Swann tossed up a delivery outside off, Yuvraj came forward to defend, attempting to cover the line, but the ball just went straight on and shattered the off-stump.

Panesar took his third wicket when he had Virat Kohli caught by Nick Compton at short extra cover.

Panesar gave the ball plenty of air, tossed it outside off, Kohli looked to go inside out but failed to keep it on the ground. The ball travelled at a good pace towards Nick Compton at short extra cover who took a neat catch, his first in Tests.

Playing the rescue act again, Cheteshwar Pujara reached his second half-century soon after lunch.

In the first session of the day, Monty Panesar put England on top as he clean bowled Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar in his successive overs.

Panesar bowled a superb delivery to get rid of the master. It was tossed up on leg stump, Tendulkar lunged out to defend, but the ball spun away from the him, went past the outside edge and clattered the off stump.

This is the third time in nine meetings that Panesar has got rid of Tendulkar.

For his first wicket, Panesar tossed up a delivery, Sehwag (30) looked to flick it away but missed, the ball hit his pads and deflected onto the stumps. It was not the best of deliveries but Panesar got a wicket and a big one at that.

Gautam Gambhir's poor form continued as he fell leg before wicket to James Anderson on the second ball of the Test.

Anderson bowled a full delivery on middle and leg, swinging in, Gambhir fell over in his attempt to flick but missed and was struck on the pads.

The breakthrough came after Indian captain MS Dhoni won the toss and chose to bat.

India have brought in Harbhajan Singh in place of Umesh Yadav, who has a sore back.

England have replaced Ian Bell with Jonny Bairstow is in and replaced Tim Bresnan with Monty Panesar.

After winning the toss, Dhoni said that the first hour will be crucial as there will be something for the fast bowlers. The surface looks good, it has a bit of grass. But as the game progresses, the spinners will come into play. Also, because of the red soil, there will be plenty of turn.

Dhoni added that games like the previous one make you feel how hard you have to work to win a Test match in your kitty. So last match was a good one.

On Virender Sehwag, Dhoni said that he is a special player. Adds that not to forget, he is a middle order player who took up the challenge of opening.

After losing the toss, England captain Alastair Cook said that for the first couple of days, there will be something for the fast bowlers. Cook hoped that his team can get some purchase and felt that towards the end of the first game, they get some positives.

This is Sehwag's 99th Test for India. he had played a Test for the ICC World XI against Australia in October 2005 in Sydney.

Mentally, India have a great advantage, as England manage to bury themselves under extreme pressure when you threaten them with spin.

Decades of having toured the Indian subcontinent has made no difference whatsoever.

While giving the pitch report, Ravi Shastri licked his lips and that it is a spinner's delight. There is a bit of grass on the surface but should not make much of a difference, he felt and reckoned that the track will turn from Day One.

Sunil Gavaskar adviced the batsmen to make the most of the batting conditions on Day One as he felt that on Day Four, everyone will be sitting at home!

England face a daunting task as they have their backs against the wall. A win in Mumbai will mean that India cannot lose the series and they will be gunning for a 2-0 lead.

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