Day 2 of the third Test between India and England at Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi stadium is quickly turning out to be a nightmare for the hosts, as three of India’s most dangerous batsmen lost their wickets within the span of three overs.
Starting out with the vice-captain of the team, Ajinkya Rahane got dismissed off danger-man Jack Leach as the ball bounced off his back foot right in front of the stumps leading to an easy LBW call.
Test runs at home:
Rohit Sharma ➜ 1596 in 25 innings
Ajinkya Rahane ➜ 1578 in 47 innings#INDvENG pic.twitter.com/0uTMwdn06W
Then it was the opening batsman Rohit Sharma, who looked like he was on his way to yet another century as he batted with aggression on the first day of the Test and struck a fifty in the third session.
However, an ill-timed sweep shot against Leach gave way to yet another plain and simple LBW appeal.
Despite the two impressive dismissals and the agonising disappointment which came along with it for the fans of the Men in Blue, it was Rishabh Pant’s ouster which caught the attention of the viewers the most.
#INDvENG
Joe Root is on fire, removes Rishabh Pant, Axar Patel and Washington Sundar
Batsman, Captain and now a bowler too
Picture Credit: BCCI#joeroot #axarpatel #rishabhpant #washingtonsundar #moteratest #testcricket #cricket pic.twitter.com/7EY0e8QKy4
This time, it was England skipper Joe Root who bowled his very first delivery of the third Test that spun away from Pant’s bat but was straight enough to knick past his edge.
Wicket-keeper and already a favourite in the eyes of Indian spectators, Ben Foakes was ready with his extremely safe pair of hands and caught the ball without any hesitation.
And even though Pant was already out at this point in time, Foakes was already in the motion to knock-off the bails.
His brilliance with the gloves got the fans talking:
I love how Foakes was already trying to take the bails off for the caught behind before he even realised he’d caught it.
— Jamie Scott (@JamiescottUV) February 25, 2021Ben Foakes taking the catch and still think about stumping Pant is unreal work
— Josh (@JoshHarding123) February 25, 2021Ever since taking Pant’s catch, on more than one occasion, Foakes has boasted his lightning-fast reflexes from behind the stumps, putting pressure on batsmen like Washington Sundar and Ravichandran Ashwin.
A video shared by ESPNcricinfo shows exactly how the Englishman works on keeping his reflexes sharp as ever.
Ben Foakes' fast hands 🤩pic.twitter.com/l1MZ89rC1f
— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) February 23, 2021
Despite getting over England’s first innings total of 112 in the first five overs of Day 2, the Men in Blue were quickly put under pressure by England spinners, especially Leach and Root himself, both of whom have picked up four and three wickets respectively in the first 49 overs of India’s first batting innings.
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