The flamboyance and adventure of the first half of the day faded during the final session in Ahmedabad as India consolidated their position with measured batting to reach a handsome 323 for 4 at the close
The Report by David Hopps15-Nov-2012
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsFile photo: Virender Sehwag made an early mark on the series with a run-a-ball hundred (ESPNcricinfo will not be carrying live/action pictures from the India v England series due to restrictions placed on agency photographers covering the matches)•AFP
Welcome to India. The greeting came from Virender Sehwag and, this being Sehwag, rather than scatter rose petals on the bed he scattered England fielders in all directions with a buccaneering century which brought a rousing start to the opening Test in Ahmedabad. This being India, where Test cricket no longer draws the crowds, there were only a few thousand in the stadium to watch it.That England recovered some ground by the close of the first day was almost entirely due to Graeme Swann, who, as their only specialist spinner on a chronically slow surface, bore an onerous responsibility and took all four Indian wickets to fall. In the process he passed Jim Laker as the most successful England offspinner in history. Roughly half of them have been left-handers, an advantage Laker never enjoyed in an era when lefties were in shorter supply.Only Swann, late in his innings, was able to stem Sehwag’s progress as he struck a run-a-ball 117, his first Test century for two years. It was a strange first session, dominated by Sehwag, who was adventuresome but far from explosive. His innings was typically more reliant upon eye than footwork as he manipulated the ball with disdain, drove at an excess of wide deliveries and defended only as an afterthought.He is a character cricketer in the manner of Chris Gayle or Kevin Pietersen, an unconventional batsman with a commanding presence and a style all of his own and, at 34, especially on low, ponderous pitches such as these, he is not quite done yet.Swann’s wickets served to strengthen the conviction that England had erred in omitting a second specialist spinner in Monty Panesar. This is a virgin surface, of lower clay content and with no time to bed down, which threatens to drive the pace bowlers to distraction and turn sharply as the Test progresses. Doubts about Stuart Broad’s fitness will have made England especially reluctant to field only two fast bowlers and they will wave all manner of statistics to support their selection but the evidence of the game was against them.Swann’s success was in strict contrast to the mood elsewhere. The only impression England’s pace bowlers made was on the footholds. Anderson was wearing his worried expression, his new-ball spell limited to four overs. Broad stubbornly dug balls into an unsympathetic surface, saw them bounce no higher than the top of the stumps and looked at them quizzically as if he could stare it into behaving differently. Tim Bresnan went at nearly six an over. It was a huge toss for India to win.By lunch, at slip, Alastair Cook pondered whether his elevation to the Test captaincy really was a good idea after all. By the close, Swann had reminded him that in a four-Test series Sehwag’s assault was merely the beginning, but a trial by spin still awaits England.Gautam Gambhir was Swann’s first victim after an opening stand of 134 in 30 overs, bowled trying to fashion one of his high-risk carves through point and beaten by a hint of turn and weary bounce. Sehwag had briefly fallen into contemplative mood in mid-afternoon, as if recovering energy for his next assault, when he was bowled, sweeping.Swann’s third wicket the most remarkable of all, that of Sachin Tendulkar who lofted to deep midwicket in an extraordinarily misconceived manner only a few minutes before tea. Finally, Virat Kohli, who had played circumspectly, was deceived in the flight and bowled through the gate.Smart stats
Virender Sehwag’s century is his 23rd in Tests and his 13th in home matches. Only Sachin Tendulkar, Sunil Gavaskar and Rahul Dravid have scored more centuries in India.
The century opening stand is the first for India since the Centurion Test in 2010. In 20 innings in between, Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir aggregated 605 runs at an average of 30.25.
The century opening stand is only the third for India in the match first innings against England. It is also the second century stand between Sehwag and Gambhir in home Tests against England after the 117-run stand in Chennai in 2008.
This is the sixth century that Sehwag has scored at a strike rate of 100 or more. In matches since 1990, only Adam Gilchrist has done so more often (7 times).
Gambhir has now been dismissed six times by Graeme Swann in six matches. No other bowler has dismissed Gambhir as often as Swann.
Swann is now behind only Derek Underwood on the list of most successful England spinners after going past Jim Laker’s tally of 193 wickets.
A Gujarati hero emerged for the crowd to applaud. Cheteshwar Pujara, upright and accomplished, was two runs short of his second Test century by the close and looked a convincing replacement for Rahul Dravid in an understated innings, showing a collected manner and good timing. But he needed a let-off on 8 as his gentle leading edge against Bresnan was misjudged by James Anderson, who ran in too far at mid-on.England spurned three other opportunities. Sehwag was dropped on 80, glancing Anderson, whereupon Matt Prior spilled a difficult chance and Prior also missed a stumping against Gambhir. The most embarrassing drop, though, belonged to Jonathan Trott, who fluffed a slip catch off Swann from Kohli and rolled the ball into the turf before shamelessly claiming the catch in a slightly perplexed manner. The umpires sought replays; for Trott they did not look good.Gambhir and Sehwag had been an alliance in decline, and fleetingly there were hints of vulnerability, but these were not conditions to ask questions of defensive technique. Gambhir had proclaimed before the match that they were the best opening duo in the country and few would find much cause to question that as India sailed to 120 without loss by lunch. It was their first century opening partnership since India faced South Africa in Centurion in 2010.Sehwag spoke of playing watchfully,and met by a deep point, he did glide regularly to third man, but his 50 still came in only 45 balls and by lunch he had 79 from 66 with 12 fours and a six. England’s pace attack strayed wide too often and runs came at a tempo that Test cricket rarely sees: 50 by the 12th over; 100 by the 20th. Sehwag possessed a hunched, insouciant air that suggested the match was of little consequence and he was just having a bit of a bash.England calculated that the ball might reverse for Bresnan, as it did as early as the ninth over in a warm-up match on the adjacent B ground, but Bresnan had a dispiriting day, never worse than when Sehwag took him for 4-4-6 in his sixth over, the second boundary, a drag through mid-on against a ball that crept past the fielder verging on the insulting; the six over wide long-on that followed, a full swing at a length ball.India have never lost a Test at home after beginning with a century stand. That statistic tells England that their chances are already slim. It was all a long way from England’s domination of India in English conditions last summer.