England tour of India continues to be exciting. The teams were evenly matched on Day 1 of the 2nd Test as the English ripped 6 wickets as India put on 260 odd runs. England were ahead for most of the day as the 6th wicket fell at 169. Pujara, who scored 206* and 41* in the 1st Test, is batting on 114 and Ashwin on 60. The umpiring was disappointing in the 1st Test and today as well. Pujara was out on 94, caught off Swann. The ball first hit Cook's toe, standing at slip and then was caught by another fielder. After checking it out from only one angle, which was clearly inconclusive, the 3rd umpire ruled that he's not out. India is the only team who doesn't use Umpire Decision Review System (UDRS), which is pathetic. The lack of use of technology is apparent in this series. It seems as though the BCCI are reluctant to spend on it, despite being the richest cricket board. No wonder they are the richest. It happens with every team that wrong decisions are given against them, but England seems to be the one most affected. That's because these decisions prove to be pivotal, by coincidence or perhaps because it demoralises England more than other teams. Whatever the case may be, England are a happier bunch with the review system active. It doesn't seem right that a rule is applied in all matches except India's matches. If a rule has been passed by ICC, it must be applied to all International matches. And then, not viewers would have known about this at the start of this series.
Monty Panesar made an impressive comeback, by taking 4 wickets, as predicted by Shane Warne. It was his day. England must be regretting their decision not to play him in the 1st Test, but they should be happy they chose him sooner rather than later. Though Steven Finn is still injured so it was an easy decision. Playing Tim Bresnan in the 1st Test definitely didn't make sense. Monty couldn't have done worse. It's worth the risk to try spinners in India. Why Samit Patel is playing is beyond my ability to comprehend though. He doesn't ever look confident enough to take a wicket in Tests. Plus, he has had more success with the bat than bowl and he doesn't have the making of a Test batsman either. Johny Bairstow replaced Ian Bell, who has gone home to witness the birth of his child. It will be interesting to see how Bairstow, who is playing his 5th Test, bats and if England will omit Patel to keep both Bairstow and Bell in the team in case Bairstow succeeds in impressing.
India are ahead of England at the moment, given India won the toss again and will make England bat last and how the pitch has played so far and their quota of spinners but if England can wrap up the 1st Indian innings early, they'll have a chance to take lead. The English batsmen must come to the party this time as captain Cook, deserves a better chance to win than the hard fought two men against eleven battle in the 1st Test.
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