3 talking points from Day 1 of the 4th IND vs ENG Test ft. Akash Deep's dream debut
Day 1 of the fourth Test between India and England swung back and forth between the two heavyweights at the JSCA International Stadium in Ranchi on Friday, Feb. 23.
The hosts took the early ascendancy in the contest, reducing their opponents to 57/3 in the 12th over and later 112/5 in the 25th over. However, England weren't going to go down without a fight as they recovered well to reach 302/7 by Stumps.
The Test is delicately poised heading into the second day. There were a few notable performances and even some surprises in store on the opening day's play in Ranchi.
On that note, here are three talking points from Day 1 of the fourth Test between India and England.
#3 The Ranchi pitch was admittedly confusing
Ahead of the fourth Test, Ben Stokes and Ollie Pope had some interesting takes on the nature of the Ranchi pitch. Both admitted that the wicket was "confusing" and that they weren't exactly clear how it would play.
As things turned out, their assesment was a fair one. Day 1 provided plenty of contrasting moments that suggested the surface is a rather temperamental one, and things will only become more obvious as the game wears on.
Ravindra Jadeja was the only Indian spinner to extract considerable turn, and even he only seemed capable of doing so from certain areas. R Ashwin was wholly ineffective, while Kuldeep Yadav couldn't create any wicket-taking opportunities.
Akash Deep got appreciable seam movement off the pitch, but there was barely any reverse in the latter half of the day. The odd ball kept low, while there was also some bounce off a length for both the pacers and the spinners.
#2 Akash Deep justified India's decision to hand him a debut
Akash Deep was picked ahead of Mukesh Kumar for the fourth Test, and head coach Rahul Dravid gave a rousing speech while handing the fast bowler his maiden international cap.
It seemed like Deep would endure a difficult debut after he castled Zak Crawley, only for the no-ball siren to go off and curtail his joy. He eventually did get the better of the England opener, but not before he had already picked up two scalps to put India ahead in the game.
Deep got the ball to nip back into the right-hander and away from the left-hander. The 27-year-old clocked speeds in the high 130s and was deceptively quick off the surface to ask probing questions of the visiting batters.
Deep's lines weren't great in his later spells, but he showed enough promise during his opening burst.
#1 Joe Root embraced orthodoxy to return to form
One of the biggest talking points from India's thumping win in the third Test was Joe Root's futile reverse-ramp against Jasprit Bumrah. Plenty of fans and experts chimed in on the matter with varied opinions.
Stokes and the England think tank didn't offer any inputs on the same, claiming that Root is experienced enough to know what works. In Ranchi, the classy batter resorted to the orthodox after an early collapse, and the approach yielded rich dividends.
Root didn't sweep or reverse sweep during his knock and relied on a straight bat to score runs. He hung in there when conditions were difficult and proved that it wasn't impossible to make a big score.
Root's century probably made England the happier of the two teams at the end of Day 1.