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Tuesday, November 27, 2012

India Vs England :2nd Test, Day 2 at Wankhede

For me it was the first day of watching a Test from the stands. Hopefully many more such days are there around the corner. Being a keen follower of Test Cricket, I was really looking forward to watch the Mumbai Test match between India and England. Mumbai Test pitches have been good sporting tracks (in my memory), which are predominantly spin friendly. Usually most of the pitches in India are run riots and these produce really boring cricket. For me Test Cricket represents a keen contest between bat and ball, aggressive or contemporary stratagems and loads of patience. 

The Session 1, Day 2 the Indian batting folded up at 327, with major contributions coming from Pujara (have huge expectations from him) and Ashwin. England started their 1st innings very cautiously with Dhoni using the spinners Ashwin and Ojha to open the bowling. The pitch was assisting the spinners and looking at the performance of the English spinners there were great expectations from the 3 Indian spinners. The English openers very reserved and cautious in their opening stance, they made sure that the team didn't lose early wickets. 

Over 30, Session 2, Day 2 provided the initial breakthrough for India. England lost 2 wickets within a span of a few overs and in walked in Kevin Pietersen (KP), who was expected to make a huge difference to the England batting line up. After failing in the 1st Test KP had a point to prove to his critics. KP too started cautiously but started capitalising on the weak line and length of the Indian spinners. It was a treat to watch KP and Cook bat, both have contrasting batting styles; Cook is an orthodox player who scores at a leisurely pace and KP who likes to stamp his authority on the opposition bowlers.

England did look vulnerable at the fall of the 2 quick wickets but after KP had settled down, the game was evenly balanced at the end of Day 2, with a slight advantage to England. The moment of the day was KP's back foot cover drive, it was simply awesome.  

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