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FROM the moment Joe Root won the toss and England got batting, India were shut out of the first Test.
The tourists’ 227-run win in Chennai is just the start they would have hoped for and it has really brought the four-Test series to life.
Going into Saturday’s second Test, England need to play with the same intensity, the same ruthlessness and take the chances like they have done so far.
But the margin and manner of this victory will have certainly woken India up. They are always extremely dangerous, and possibly even more so now.
Outstanding Anderson still has the appetite
James Anderson was absolutely brilliant and straight in the zone from the very start of that outstanding over where he bowled Shubman Gill and Ajinkya Rahane.
We talk about conditions for reverse swing, but you have to know the line you are going to start on and how much you want it to reverse swing.
To bowl two frontline batsmen – one of whom had a half-century – like that was just outstanding, and displayed his skill and control.
In his dismissal of Rishabh Pant, Anderson bowled a beautifully disguised slower ball and it went straight to the fielder. It was a real sucker punch – a superb trap, perfectly executed and the batsman fell for it.
Anderson, at 38, is incredibly fit and incredibly determined. Whenever I have asked him about retirement he has always replied with: “Why should I stop?”. It is difficult to answer that.
He still has the appetite and just absolutely loves it.
Root leads from the front and Leach’s comeback
Joe Root had a really good game, not just with the bat but as captain. The whole world was shouting him to declare in the fourth innings but Root knows what he wants.
He is naturally a very positive player and skipper, so I do not buy that he was being defensive and negative in his decision.
He knew there were enough balls left in the game to offer up at least 10 opportunities. He also wanted the hardness of the ball on the fifth morning.
We saw slow left-armer Jack Leach get a hammering in the first innings, although he came back superbly in the second to claim 4-76, which will do him the world of good.
The ball he bowled to Rohit Sharma would have sent an absolute shudder through the India camp, and from that moment England were off and running. It was just perfect.
Off-spinner Dom Bess’ consistency was lacking, and he bowled a lot of full tosses in the second innings. If India did have a bit of a sniff and there was a possibility of a counter-attack then Bess would have been vulnerable.
Buttler heading home
Wicketkeeper Jos Buttler is set to fly home and miss the rest of the series, as per England’s policy with squad rotation.
He has played excellent cricket and is keeping wicket the best we have ever seen him.
I wonder how he feels about leaving, having just done what they have done. Victories like that in India do not come easy.
But he has been in bio-secure bubbles for a long time and I know he has a young family.
Professional cricket is such a selfish life – you are away so much and do not have much time with your family – so having set that date to return home would be pretty difficult to change.
There is the question of what England do with Anderson? Do they rotate him as they said they would? Does fellow seamer Stuart Broad get a game? These are things that have to be considered.
The rotation of players, while not ideal, is a sign of the times. Every part of life has been affected over the last 12 months, so England’s selection woes are incomparable.
India will come back focused
As for India, they have a few questions marks for the rest of the series.
The problem is that their wicketkeeper, Rishabh Pant, is not great behind the stumps but a fantastic attacking batsman, and their off-spinner, Washington Sundar, is a decent batsman but not a great bowler.
Pant will continue but will have to work on his keeping and realise he has to adapt his batting to Test cricket. Everyone would like to go out there and smash every ball for six, but you cannot do that.
I expect left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav to be back and, while Rahane is in poor form – he scored only one run in the Test – he has a bit of time owed to him after captaining India to an epic series win in Australia last month.
For England, the real challenge in the second Test will come if they do not win the toss and the bowlers have to perform on a day one batting track.
They will also come across an India side focused and determined to come back into the series.
Jonathan Agnew was speaking to BBC Sport’s Kal Sajad.
BBC Sport
– Feb. 09, 2021 @ 18:57 GMT
Tags: 'Tourists off to best possible start but hosts still dangerous'
