Ashwin fifer makes it a super Sunday for India as England succumb to spin in Chennai

India stamped their authority on the second Test on Day 2 as England batsmen faltered to contend with the Indian spinners. While often the saying goes that a game is not over till the final ball is bowled, it would need a miracle and a half for England to claw their way back into the second Test.

If ever Axar Patel could have conjured all the ingredients needed to make a surface to make his Test debut on, he might still have struggled to produce one nearly as perfectly suited as the one in Chepauk. Tall left-arm spinner with a round arm action making it virtually impossible for batsmen to shoulder arms, Axar on this pitch was the stuff of nightmares for batsmen. Add to it the genius of R Ashwin, and India had a deadly combination.

The wickets came. And in bunches. By Lunch England found themselves 4 down. While Ishant began the carnage in the very first over with the classic Out-Out-In swing to trap Rory Burns, Sibley fell to the back of his bat, a referral which went India’s way and would have pricked the English camp. Root tried to replicate the Rohit Sharma school of playing on this surface, but extra bounce produced a top-edged sweep to give Axar his debut Test wicket. If the demons in the surface weren’t enough, Ashwin planted some more in Lawrence’s head the last ball before lunch and the right-hander who had struggled his way to a 51-ball 9 at the point gloved one to shot-leg.

When Stokes fell to yet another Ashwin beauty, England seemed all at sea. In parallel, a Twitter back and forth between Shane Warne and former English skipper Michael Vaughan added to the on-field happenings; the latter reigniting the age-old debate of the nature of the surface. However, his fellow Englishmen in Ollie Pope and Ben Foakes showed that the surface was not a “shocker” as the Ashes-winning English skipper had chosen to describe it. Ollie Pope fell to Siraj’s first ball in Test cricket in India, while Ben Foakes remained unbeaten while the rest of the England batting mustered minimal resistance. Ashwin picked up yet another fifer, and in the process became the first bowler in Test cricket history to have picked up 200 wickets of left-handers.

Over the past month, Rishabh Pant has slowly built his reputation as a Test cricketer. While the Australian series gave an account of his batting ability and the kind of Philip he can inject into a hopeless situation, there might still have been lingering doubts which might have made a few skeptics question whether there was a case to be made for Pant to play as a pure batsman alone. But, on Chennai Day 2, Pant ticked off yet another box, plucking two stunners diving to his left. Sure, there might be a long way to go before he can be considered a great keeper, but it is yet another step in the right direction for the Delhi youngster in establishing himself as a regular in the squad. Add to that the matter of a calculated assault that produced an unbeaten, valuable 58 runs early on Day 2, and Pant may just have answered the question “Who after Dhoni?”

With 9 wickets still in the hut, and a lead of 249 runs, India are well ahead in the game. Barring a repeat of Day 3 session 1 from Adelaide, and perhaps rains in Chennai, the game appears to be headed in just one direction. And even then, England might need a minor miracle to save this Test.