Intriguing final day’s play on cards

Earlier, Shardul Thakur smashed his second half-century of the match while Rishabh Pant showed required restraint while returning to form as India scored a commendable 466.

India did encounter another mini middle-order collapse as it slumped from 296 for 3 to 312 for 6 in a space of 10 overs in the first session but Thakur (60 off 72 balls) and Pant (50 off 106 balls) joined forces to add 100 runs for the seventh wicket. If that wasn’t enough Umesh Yadav (25) and Jasprit Bumrah (24) used the long handle gleefully, adding muscle to the already beefed up total.

It did help that the pitch became flatter as the day progressed and under bright sunshine, strokeplay became easier for both the batters as they could hit through the line.

While Shardul, who is fondly called ‘Beefy’ by team’s head coach Ravi Shastri for his Ian Botham-like exploits, is reinforcing his value as a bowling all-rounder. His three straight drives were as good as any of the shots that his illustrious seniors Rohit Sharma and Cheteshwar Pujara hit on the third day. In fact, a couple of his straight drives came after 50 and it was skipper Joe Root, who finally had him edge one in the slips to get England a breakthrough. By then, he had hit seven fours and a six.

If Shardul’s 57 in the first innings had helped the team reach a respectable total, his approach in the second innings ensured that Pant wasn’t in his usually “hara-kiri” mode that brought about his downfall during a number of occasions this summer.

In fact, the left hander curbed his instincts to charge down the track and played as per merit of each delivery.

BRIEF SCORES: India 191 & 466 in 148.2 overs (R Sharma 127, S Thakur 60, C Pujara 61) vs England 290 & 77/0