Shubman Gill stars as India continue their dominance on Day 3

Day 3: First Session:

England strike early: England struck early on Day 3 courtesy- James Anderson as he dismissed Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal in quick succession. But why did they get out? As mentioned previously, Anderson took full advantage of the early morning moisture to dismiss India’s openers as Rohit was deceived by the outswinger while Jaiswal chased a wide one to lose his wicket. With these wickets, the score moved to 30/2.

James Anderson struck early for England on Day 3 as he dismissed Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal
Source: https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/england-in-india-2023-24-1389386/india-vs-england-2nd-test-1389400/match-photo

Shubman Gill and Shreyas Iyer counterattack: Shubman Gill and Shreyas Iyer counterattacked for India with an 81 run stand for the third wicket. But why did England lose their way? England spinners’ poor bowling cost them as they bowled too many overpitched and pad lined deliveries. With this stand, the score moved to 111/2.

Shubman Gill and Shreyas Iyer counterattacked for India with an 81 run stand for the third wicket
Source: https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/england-in-india-2023-24-1389386/india-vs-england-2nd-test-1389400/match-photo

India lose 2 quick wickets: After the 81 run stand between Gill and Iyer, India lost their way as both Iyer and Rajat Patidar got out giving their wickets to Tom Hartley and Rehan Ahmed respectively. But what went wrong for India? While Patidar got out because of low bounce, Iyer mistimed a slog to Shreyas Iyer at mid off. The shot was on but Iyer couldn’t get the timing right. With these wickets, 111/2 swiftly became 122/4.

Tom Hartley (right) struck for England as he dismissed Shreyas Iyer for 29 runs. He also dismissed Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav and Jasprit Bumrah to finish with a four fer
Source: https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/england-in-india-2023-24-1389386/india-vs-england-2nd-test-1389400/match-photo

Apart from Tom Hartley, Rehan Ahmed also picked up three wickets as he dismissed Rajat Patidar, KS Bharat and Ashwin to dent India
Source: https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/england-in-india-2023-24-1389386/india-vs-england-2nd-test-1389400/match-photo

Gill and Axar Patel take India to Lunch: Shubman Gill (60*) and Axar Patel (2*) ensured that there was no further damage for India as both the batters took their team to lunch with the score reading 130/4 and the lead on 273 runs. With 102 runs scored and 4 wickets lost, this session was shared.

Day 3: Second Session:

Shubman Gill and Axar Patel counterattack: In the post lunch session, Shubman Gill and Axar Patel counterattacked for India with an 89 run stand, with 8 of them being scored in the first session. But why was India able to rebuild? The England bowlers continued to serve width which the batters cashed in on. With this stand, the score moved to 211/4.

India lose two quick wickets: Just like the first session, India lost two quick wickets after a partnership. This time Shubman Gill (104 runs) and Axar Patel (45 runs) got out. But why did India lose their way? While Gill gloved one to the keeper, low bounce accounted for Axar Patel as Shoaib Bashir and Tom Hartley struck for England. With these 2 wickets, 211/4 swiftly became 220/6.

Shubman Gill's third Test hundred (104 runs) played a big role in India getting a healthy lead
Source: https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/england-in-india-2023-24-1389386/india-vs-england-2nd-test-1389400/match-photo

Axar Patel also contributed crucial 45 runs to India's 398 run lead
Source: https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/england-in-india-2023-24-1389386/india-vs-england-2nd-test-1389400/match-photo

Ashwin and KS Bharat take India to Tea: Ashwin and KS Bharat ensured that there was no further damage for India as they took their team to tea with the score reading 227/6 and the lead on 370 runs. With 97 runs scored and two wickets lost, this session was also shared.

Day 3: Third Session:

India suffer a collapse: The final session on Day 3 saw India suffer a lower order collapse as they lost 4 wickets for 28 runs. But why did India collapse? As mentioned above, the old ball was keeping low and had also started to turn from the fuller length area which made run scoring tough. Apart from Shubman Gill’s century, useful contributions from Axar Patel, Ashwin and Shreyas Iyer helped India get a 398 run lead. For England, the spinners shared 8 wickets between them while Anderson picked two.

Ashwin's 29 run innings also helped India get to 398 runs
Source: https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/england-in-india-2023-24-1389386/india-vs-england-2nd-test-1389400/match-photo

England Second Innings:

Openers start well: England’s openers started well as they put on a 50 run stand for the first wicket. But why so? Just like the first innings, while Bumrah troubled the batters with the new ball, Mukesh Kumar struggled again as he provided too much width to the batters.

Ashwin strikes for India: After going wicketless in the first innings, Ashwin struck in the second innings as he removed Ben Duckett for 28 runs. But why did he get out? He was unlucky as he inside edged a ball to the keeper. With this wicket, the score moved to 50/1.

After impressing with the bat, Ashwin also took the first wicket in England's Second Innings as he dismissed Ben Duckett for 28 runs
Source: https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/england-in-india-2023-24-1389386/india-vs-england-2nd-test-1389400/match-photo

Zak Crawley and Rehan Ahmed take England to Stumps: Zak Crawley and Rehan Ahmed ensured that there was no further damage for England as both the batters took their team to Stumps with the score on 67/1 with 332 runs still required to win the match. With 96 runs scored and 5 wickets lost, this session belonged to India.

As seen from the above analysis, although India got a lead of 398 runs, they would feel they left some runs on the field. Again, apart from Shubman Gill, no other batter scored a fifty in the second innings and this is something the batters will need to work on. England is still in the game and with their style of play anything is possible. India just need to be patient for the wickets.

Brief Scores:

India First Innings: 396/10 (Yashasvi Jaiswal- 209, Shubman Gill- 34, Rajat Patidar- 32, Shreyas Iyer- 27, Shoaib Bashir- 3/138, Rehan Ahmed- 3/65, Tom Hartley- 1/74, James Anderson- 3/47)

England First Innings: 253/10 (Zak Crawley- 76, Ben Stokes- 47, Jonny Bairstow- 25, Ollie Pope- 23, Jasprit Bumrah- 6/45, Kuldeep Yadav- 3/71, Axar Patel- 1/24)

India Second Innings: 255/10 (Shubman Gill- 104, Axar Patel- 45, Shreyas Iyer- 29, Ashwin- 29, Tom Hartley- 4/77, Rehan Ahmed- 3/88, James Anderson- 2/29, Shoaib Bashir- 1/58)

England Second Innings: 67/1 (Zak Crawley- 29*, Ben Duckett- 28, Ashwin- 1/8)

Note: I do not own any of these images. The credit for these images goes to espncricinfo.com. These images have been used to show what happened during the game.