Sai Sudharsan scored a gritty 61 in the first innings of the fourth Test.
India started the Test with a mind-boggling stat against them. The team has now lost 14 coin tosses in a row in Men’s International Cricket. England captain Ben Stokes won all four coin tosses in this series. And he put India in to bat on a cold, cloudy morning in Manchester. The openers started well, but then the visitors tumbled a bit. The highlight of the day was Rishabh Pant being hit by a Chris Woakes yorker and stretchered off the stadium. However, there was another resemblance in the first innings of the fourth Test. Sai Sudharsan, playing his second match of the series, has been caught on the leg-side in all three innings so far.
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The Gujarat Titans (GT) opener made an appearance at the press conference and cleared the air on some of the questions being asked about his technique. He stated that he had no idea how he edged the ball down the leg side in the first Test at Headingley. Sudharsan also went on to say that he knew England used that trick quite often and was cautious in the first innings of the fourth Test. The 23-year-old was caught at mid-wicket in the second innings of the first Test. In another quirky stat, Sudharsan has fallen to Ben Stokes three times in the series.
“I didn’t know how I edged it down the leg. England do it quite often for other batters too. I was quite aware coming into this game. I am not looking at this as pressure but an opportunity to express myself. I wanted to play the situation and do well for the team”, said Sudharsan.
India closed Day 1 at 264/4. While the score portrays the visitors being on top, what actually happened in the game might suggest otherwise. Everything was going well for the Indians until a yorker from Chris Woakes hit the toe of Rishabh Pant. The Indian vice-captain was in a heap of pain, and had to be stretchered off the ground in a medical van. Moreover, there was significant swelling on his right foot. Pant has been taken for scans and will be examined overnight by the medical team. The Indians will be hopeful of his return on Day 2.
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Sai Sudharsan was India’s top scorer on the first day of the fourth Test. He scored a gritty 61 and was dismissed to a Stokes bouncer. Sudharsan ended up hooking the ball to Brydon Carse at fine-leg. He looked excellent and composed, but the English have been targeting him down the leg-side, something that the youngster is aware of. Yashasvi Jaiswal too got into his groove, scoring 58 runs. But he, too, couldn’t convert his chance into a big score. The Rajasthan Royals (RR) opener hasn’t got a big score since his century in the first Test, and will be itching to get going again.
India will begin Day 2 with Ravindra Jadeja and Shardul Thakur at the crease, with both set on 19 runs. It will be important to see how those two go on from this position. If the Indian vice-captain doesn’t return to the crease on Day 2, India will be left with Washington Sundar, who is yet to bat.
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