England vs India 2014: 1st Test, Day 1 - The Quick Flicks
The frenetic start
After all the discussion about patience being crucial in the first session, the series was off to a hasty start as India collected 12 runs off the first over of the match. Two boundaries were scored in the vacant third-man area, including an edge, and one off the legs to deep square leg by Murali Vijay.
The last time this happened in England was in 1969 when the most unlikeliest batsman to do so, Geoffrey Boycott, scored 12 runs off the first over of the match by Sir Gary Sobers.
The all-you-can-score buffet at third-man
A look at Murali Vijay's starts in Tests since 2012 suggested that he predominantly scored behind the wicket, with almost half his runs coming from the third man and fine leg region during the first 30 deliveries he faced. Alastair Cook, not for the first time, kept the third man area vacant, and Indian batsmen, especially Vijay, collected easy runs there.
On a wicket airlifted straight out of the subcontinent overnight for this match (probably), Vijay's nudges and edges earned him quick runs in that area. By the time he reached 25 off 24 deliveries, he had scored 6 boundaries, 5 of them coming behind the wicket on the off side. He played with a slanted bat, missing an Anderson in-swinger, but managed to use his wrists to good effect to score runs in the third-man area.
The tales of their fathers
Sachin Tendulkar used to discuss the intricacies of his batting - the smallest technical details and glitches - with his brother Ajit. Cheteshwar Pujara shares a similar bond with his father. With Michael Atherton in a chat, he discussed his father's role in his preparation for overseas tour.
The other big father story of the day was when Atherton was talking about Nottingham's love with sports and the discussion drifted to football. The former England captain then revealed that his father had played for Manchester United's reserves team in early 60s, just after the Munich disaster.
Wisden notes that Alan Atheron played for Woodhouses in Lancashire and Cheshire League Club. Some further research reveals that Alan had made his FA Youth Cup debut for Manchester United on 12th October 1959 at the age of 15. A brilliant find for the quizmakers, this.
The weird dismissal
India went into lunch and tea breaks in a position of strength, but lost wickets soon after the break. Just after lunch, Anderson prised out Pujara's wicket by a slower reverse swinging delivery, caught beautifully by a diving Ian Bell at short mid-on. Next to fall was Kohli, again caught by Bell, this time in slips off Broad. In the last 8 innings across all formats in 2014 when he's got out before 50, five have been mistakes outside the off-stump - either poking at it away from his body, or mistiming the pull.
But the stand-out dismissal was of Ajinkya Rahane. The Mumbai lad had been peppered with short stuff and looked in a bit of discomfort soon after tea. A short one was fended awkwardly and landed just out of reach of Cook at silly point. Two balls later, he pulled another short one, but this came on slower and reached Rahane after he was almost through with the shot. It took the toe edge and landed safely in Cook's lap at silly point. How often have you seen that?