They topped the table and took seven wickets for 76 runs to restrict the opposition to 235, then responded with 78 for 1 off 17 overs on a pitch where first-innings runs will be incredibly important. Everything went according to plan until Friday at 4:47 PM. And then, in the next five minutes, everything fell apart. Three wickets in eight legal balls, and a day to claim, were once again on the line.
“Everything happened in ten minutes,” Jadeja said at the end of the first day’s play in Mumbai. “But it happens. It’s a team game. You can’t blame one person. Everyone makes mistakes. The next batters will have to build a partnership and try to get (the score) above 230. Only then will the second innings come in the game. So it will be better if the incoming batters contribute.”
And that’s our motto, just keep giving to the team, the way Rachin and some other guys chased the ball to the boundary, we’re always proud of that. “It means everyone is involved, everyone is giving to the team so that if we get one, hopefully we get another and it’s nice that it paid off tonight.”
Kohli was fully dressed when the second wicket fell, but Mohammed Siraj came to bat. The night watchman fell first and burned a review trying to survive. Kohli then came in but he caught Matt Henry’s arm at mid-on and lost. Rishabh Pant came out. It was a good thing that no more wickets fell because the next man, Sarfaraz Khan, was not in his whites.
India have already lost this series and are looking to avoid their first ever home whitewash in a series of three or more Tests. Everywhere they went they were reminded of these things. Was their plunge into this potentially avoidable situation a sign of a team buckling under pressure? Jadeja didn’t think so.
“Only the individual can tell what is going on in his head,” he said. “But when you are behind in the series and a situation like that happens, you feel panic because you are 2-0 down and you have made a mistake. But if you are 2-0 up and the same thing happens, everyone says it happens.” But when you’re behind in the series, even the little things start to look big. Our top order has made mistakes, so the next six batters should go close to or beyond 230. If we bat well in the first innings, that will be the case. easier in the second.”
