India gave another England opener the perfect debut in Test match cricket, and after being made to toil for their five wickets on an engrossing opening day of the fourth Test match, the home team will hope for a better outcome when the teams walk onto the field at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Friday. India will know they need to restrict England to as low a total as possible to stand a chance of winning this Test match.
The pitch took considerable turn on the opening day, although R Ashwin was quick to point out that was also the case the last time these two teams met in 2012, with the wicket considerably easing out on days two and three.
If that is the case, the onus is even more on the India bowlers to fashion the remaining five wickets as quickly as they can, because if England get settled at the crease again and the pitch ends up turning into a batting belter, they could post a massive score.
That would put one result out of the reckoning, which India will not want. So, the likes of R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Jayant Yadav will be under pressure to take early wickets. Umesh Yadav and Bhuvneshwar Kumar will also be under pressure, if Virat Kohli decides to take the new ball.
The pacers toiled hard but had little to show for their efforts, with all five wickets falling to the spinners – well, Ashwin took four of them, while Jadeja had one, the first wicket of the day, when Alastair Cook was stumped by Parthiv Patel.
Keaton Jennings was the one who stole the spotlight on day one, scoring a century on debut, and it will be interesting to see which player grabs the initiative for himself and his team on day two of this fourth Test match.
Where to Watch Live
India vs England 4th Test, Day 2 is set to begin at 9.30am IST (5am GMT). Live Streaming and TV guide for the match is below.
India: TV: Star Sports HD1, Star Sports 1, Star Sports HD3, Star Sports 3. Live Streaming: Hotstar.
UK: TV: Sky Sports 2. Live Streaming: Watch Sky Sports and Sky Go.
Middle East: TV: OSN Sports Cricket. Live Streaming: OSN Cricket Live.
Australia: TV: Fox Sports 5. Live Streaming: Foxtel.
US, Canada: TV: Willow TV. Live Streaming: Willow TV Online.
New Zealand: TV: Sky Sport 3. Live Streaming: Sky Go NZ.
South Africa: TV: SuperSport 2. Live Streaming: SuperSport Live Video.
