India have been tasked with a daunting responsibility to save face against New Zealand in the 2nd Test at Pune. In order to keep their 12-year-streak of winning Test series at home alive, they need to chase down a massive 360-run target.
It’s only Day 3 of the Test – traditionally referred to as the moving day. But with the fourth innings already underway, India’s hopes rest on the shoulders of their starry batting line-up. Rohit Sharma is already out, so that’s nine wickets left; however, with youngsters Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal having batted aggressively and knocked down 81 of those, the game is one.
After losing Rohit for 8, Jaiswal and Gill added 47 runs in just 38 balls to take them to lunch one down. While Jaiswal was clearly the show stealer, Gill showed drastic improvement from his performance in the first innings. Out LBW to Mitchell Santner just yesterday, Gill, under the watchful eyes of India head coach Gautam Gambhir, made a conscious effort to work on his technical shortcoming. Even before the match resumed on Saturday, Gill could be seen working hard in the nets, trying to position his bat ahead of the pad while playing the ball than behind it – something that led to his dismissal a little over 24 hours ago.
While he and Jaiswal powered on in India’s chase, the camera briefly aired a clip where Gambhir, keenly following Gill’s batting, told the youngster to use his bat more effectively and in front of the pads. Gambhir is one of India’s finest players against spin; he was part of that fabled Indian batting order in the mid 2000s, featuring VVS Laxman, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar and others. The current bunch of Indian players may not be as capable batting against spin, and that is one area Gambhir needs to take charge in to spark an improvement.
Gill shows improvement immediately
And his efforts seem to be paying off well. Gill is already batting on 22 off 20 balls, with four boundaries and is leading India’s positive intent in the second innings. India are scoring at a stunning run-rate of 6.75 and with the likes of Sarfaraz Khan, Rishabh Pant and Washington Sundar to come, their fate lies in the hands of these youngsters more than veterans Virat Kohli or Ravindra Jadeja.
India did well to pick up the remaining five New Zealand wickets in just over an hour. New Zealand, resuming at 198/5, looked at adding a whole lot of runs more but Ravindra Jadeja, surprisingly quiet with the ball until Day 2, picked up three wickets and effected a run out to bowl the Kiwis for 259 and limit the lead to 359 when 400 looked easily gettable for the visitors. India lost Rohit cheaply again, getting out to Santner, who took his match-haul to eight wickets. But with plenty of time and cricket still left to be played, the coming two sessions could make or break this fascinating Test. India need another 278 runs to notch up a famous win, while New Zealand are 9 scalps away to rewrite record books.
