In the midst of the football mania, perhaps for the first time in the history of India, Indians didn’t pay that much attention to the first Test match between India and England that has already gotten underway. As Argentina and Germany stormed into the finals of the FIFA World Cup, there was a totally different demonstration of heroics on the British soil. Two Indian men were not just stealing everyone else’s thunder, they were also humiliating and hurting the hosts.
Meet Bhuvaneshwar Kumar and Mohammad Shami, who were ruling the roost in Nottingham. On Day One, opener Murali Vijay and captain MS Dhoni played anchors, just as the English team began its ambush. As Day 1 ended, India still looked comfortable, but slightly vulnerable. As Day 2 dawned, some wickets fell in quick succession and one could see the English team smirk and the Indians’ brows creased with worry. As Bhuvaneshwar Kumar and Mohammad Shami took the centre, the English players were smacking their lips on an impending Indian closure.
Our young lads, however, had totally something else up their sleeves. With an ominous 111-run partnership that blossomed between the two, England’s smirk soon faded away and they were left grinding their teeth and pulling their hair, frustrated and duped by the meek looking 10th-wicket partners. Kumar belted 58 off 151 and Shami scored 51 off 151, to throw a word of caution on the faces of the hosts. Their partnership screamed out in bold capital letters that tailenders shouldn’t be taken lightly. The Indians ended their first innings at 457.
As someone said, “You can’t blame the pitch if you let the tailenders bat for close to 30 overs!†Since then, all sorts of jokes and sarcastic comments about the English team have started making the rounds and rightly so. At stumps on Day 2, England were 43/1, trailing by 414 runs with 9 wickets in hand. Things don’t look too great for England as of now, but who knows, their tailenders may script some sort of epicness again!