INDIA TOUR OF ENGLAND, 2018

No runs, all action - Edgbaston Test comes alive in 18 minutes

by Vithushan Ehantharajah • Last updated on

James Anderson tested Virat Kohli to the hilt in a fascinating phase of play © Getty

Right, allow me to let you in on a little secret. In a cricket press box, it's almost impossible to watch every ball.

Don't get me wrong - it's not through a lack of effort. But among diligent note-taking, filing various updates of notable incidents and session reports, scrabbling around on the internet for statistics, lamenting your inability to find any that suit before coming across someone more qualified on Twitter and nabbing their nugget for your own needs, it can be tricky to watch a sustained period of play. That's where the televisions come in handy.

In the Edgbaston press box, four flat-screen televisions service the three long, bending worktops that cascade, from one wall to another, down to the thick, clear glass that provides one of the best views in English cricket. You are almost hovering over the bowler operating from this, the Pavilion End, with a clear birdseye view of him wedging the ball precisely into his hand. Just before he sets off, a glance up and you're staring into the whites of the batsman's eyes and monitoring that trigger back and across. Or, more often than not, you hear something's happened and turn to one of those four screens. All hail to the broadcast delay.

But on day two at Edgbaston, for a 22-ball period that lasted 18 minutes, there were no heads buried in laptops. The lunch interval had come and gone, meaning the next session update was a good while away. There was no need to stat-mine, either, as India remained rooted on 100 runs. They may as well have turned the TVs off and put them back in their boxes. No one could take their eyes off what was happening out there in front of them.

It began with the wicket of Ajinkya Rahane: a deserved scalp for Ben Stokes, who had utilised a moving ball and a full head of steam to jolt a usually unflappable character. In an exchange of 15 balls - 13 of them dots - Rahane was turned inside and out, before an edge for four brought up the India hundred. Then, with the very next delivery - Stokes's 16th to the right-hander - Rahane was squared up and, in trying to leave the ball late, skewed an edge high to Keaton Jennings's right at third slip. Once that had grabbed the attention, there it remained.

In walks Dinesh Karthik: an impish batsman of international experience, if not repute. He has a strut that exudes confidence with a modest Test record that conflicts. His first ball is full, swinging, but wide. He leaves it alone. Stokes is frustrated. On another line, it's a killer. As wide as it was - simply filler. The next ball is straighter, albeit less deadly. Karthik keeps it out and the 28th over comes to an end.

At any other time, you might have a quick check of a replay to see what on earth Rahane was thinking when getting into such a tangle. Perhaps even a quick check to see how many times Karthik has faced England (three times previously in Tests, nine in ODIs and never in Twenty20s, in case you're wondering). Then you see James Anderson back at the top of his mark, Virat Kohli on strike and realise nothing else in the world matters right now. What follows is a maiden, but not the type of maiden you're used to.

Somehow, without scoring a run, Kohli is able to exert a degree of calm and control. It's reminiscent of Floyd Mayweather in his latter years: hands still skilful, but by that point, Mayweather had mastered the art of defence. Of not getting hit. After some out swingers, Anderson, fourth ball of the over, brings out that straight right - the inswinger. The one most batsmen in the world have to play at. Not Kohli. Seeing it early and comfortable with the path it will take, he leaves.

Looking to see off the final ball, Kohli almost pre-empted a leave. Anderson already read this from the previous five balls and sends in a ball that angles towards off stump. Kohli reacts late and is beaten on the inside edge for the first time in his innings. Even Mayweather gets hit sometimes.

Back to Stokes and Karthik. A tame ball outside off has Karthik leaving. The next ball has him leaving altogether, as an inswinging yorker seemingly picks up pace through the air and knocks out his middle stump. Stokes has his 100th Test wicket. And how.

A message comes through on Google Chat with a list of the quickest players to 2500 runs and 100 wickets. Stokes, from 43 matches, is the third fastest to achieve the feat. Just before you entertain the prospect of Tweeting that out for some juicy numbers, another appeal. Another booming inswinger. Another Aleem Dar finger raise.

Hardik Pandya wonders if it's done too much. Up goes the review and for the first time in this passage, the screens are acknowledged. Sliding down due to vicious hoop. Oh well, back to Anderson v Kohli.

The air has grown thick with anticipation. Another three leaves. Kohli looks like he's getting the hang of this batting in England malarkey. Anderson goes wide to give himself a better angle and is met by a full-blooded block. Then back to leaving. One more to go...

Anderson sticks to going wide, but there's something different. Kohli's not picked it yet, shuffling across with purpose and happy to play. But it's an outswinger. A really damn fine one. Perhaps it's the 21 balls he spent sat on 21. It's the quality of Anderson, fashioning this sliver of an opening. There's the edge. But Dawid Malan, inexplicably, cannot keep hold of the chance at second slip. Even Mayweather gets lucky.

You could feel the whole ground exhale through that thick glass. When the replay goes up - now every screen is in play; I mean, it's Kohli that's been dropped - the reactions are repeated, albeit with greater sorrow and enthusiasm depending on whether your allegiances were English or Indian.

Just as the pens are readied to make the note - "Kohli (!!!) dropped, on 21" - there's another drop to document. Perhaps thrown by the mistake of his skipper, Pandya now drives loosely at a delivery he should have left. The ball moves in slow motion towards Alastair Cook. Unfortunately, so does he, and when the ball dips late, as it does in England, he can only act to deflect it away off his hand and midrift, away to third man. A single is stolen. After 18 minutes, 21 balls, two wickets and two drops in two balls - India finally moved off 100.

Great Test cricket relies on great passages strung together: the sort that during the debriefs at the end of a day or the entire match, you are constantly flicking through important moments, like they are photos from the most memorable of good times. Of the moments that were seen today - Sam Curran's wunderkind spell, Anderson's immaculate shift, the game-changing drops, Kohli's everything - this period ticked all the boxes. Test cricket in a nutshell. Everything changing while staying the same.

"You know that all happened with India on 100?" came a distant query from the back row. Heads back in laptops, stat-mining back on the agenda, back onto Twitter to see what's been said. Suddenly that session report is a little closer. "It began with the wicket of Ajinkya Rahane...."

© Cricbuzz

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