I've Never Seen Pace Or Batting Like This For India

There was a loud cheer in the crowd when Alastair Cook called correctly in Mohali.

- Aakash Chopra

The importance of winning the toss in India wasn’t lost on the English supporters, for only once this year in Asia had the team that lost the toss gone on to win the match.

But, while winning the toss is an advantage, it’s only half the job done, and England failed miserably to capitalise on the advantage of batting first on a good pitch. India would’ve been happy with a couple of wickets in the first session but got four.

While credit should be given to the bowlers for their penetration and discipline in those opening hours, England can’t escape from the fact that some of their batsmen fell to ordinary shots. Out of the four wickets India got, only Haseeb Hameed’s delivery was unplayable, the rest fell courtesy of loose shots. Christmas arrived early for India. Here are the key talking points.

Indian pacemen

There was a time in Indian cricket when fast bowlers were used as relief bowlers in home conditions. Since conditions never complemented their skills, simply a disciplined display was expected of faster bowlers, or so we thought.

Team strategies were stitched around spinners and dishing out spin-ready pitches. To be fair, Indian spinners almost always responded well and India remained a force at home.