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India vs England 1st Test: As we near the end, the match is setting up to be repeat of 2005 Edgbaston Ashes Test

Ben Stokes to Virat Kohli, a bouncer, too short, Kohli casually ducks down and simply walks off.

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Ben Stokes to Virat Kohli, a bouncer, too short, Kohli casually ducks down and simply walks off.

England were left frustrated by stumps of third day of the ongoing opening Test against India at Edgbaston. They are five wickets away from a superb victory, while India need 84 runs to register a historic win at the venue, where they have played seven Tests so far without registering a win.

Chasing anything close to 200 can get tricky in England and India are exactly in that place right now. Moreover, there is just one man who has held the grip of an entire Indian batting line-up and is standing tall and firm between England and a victory: Virat Kohli.

Even in the first innings, when a 20-year-old Sam Curran struck the experienced Indian top-order, it was Kohli, who overcame his ghosts from the 2014 tour and literally led his side from the front. As wickets fell from one end, Kohli on the other end continued to resist an England attack who went all guns against him.

Of course, he got lucky, thanks to sloppy fielding from the hosts on the slips, but what made the difference was how Kohli capitalised on the new life. Initially, he was seen getting vulnerable at the same outside off-stump area against James Anderson but once he passed that phase, there was no stopping him. In the 2014 tour, Kohli scored a miserable 134 runs in five Tests at a humiliating average of less than 14.

However, four years later, a more mature Kohli, who has worked hard on his game, needed just one innings to surpass that score. He registered a brilliant 149 off 225 balls before India got bowled out for 274 runs in the first innings.

Thanks to Kohli’s effort, India got close to England’s first innings score of 287 and that did not give any advantage to the hosts when they came out to bat for the second time.

If it was vintage Kohli with the bat, India were lucky when their most experienced pacer, in the current team, Ishant Sharma took the matters on his hands to deliver at the much needed time.

In 13 overs he bowled, he removed five batsmen, basically England’s middle-order after Ravichandran Ashwin created havoc on the top-order. Ashwin dismissed Alastair Cook, Keaton Jennings and Joe Root within 15 overs before Ishant began his business.

Ishant has always been under-estimated especially when in reality he is the one who is brought to make repairs after other bowlers end up messing up the situation. Since he has had consistency problems, he has not been in the good books of neither cricket pundits nor fans. But, on Friday, he was a bit different. In the first hour, he managed to create the pressure as England batsmen began to struggle.

The next 15 overs saw Dawid Malan, Jonny Bairstow and Jos Buttler become Ishant’s victims as he sent them back to the pavilion one after another.

When India came to bat in the final innings, the miseries remained the same. The top-order was crushed by the duo of Stuart Broad and Ben Stokes. Once again, the situation arrived where Kohli was not left in a position where he could afford to lose his wicket. Until he stays at the wicket , India will be very much in the Test, en route to an unbelievable win.

With 84 runs needed more and just five wickets in hand, this match can go in any way. Although it has not been a high-scoring affair, it is certainly turning into a repeat scene of the Edgbaston Ashes 2005 Test.

In that particular Test, England scored 407 runs in the first innings before they restricted Australia at 308. The visitors followed that up with a superb bowling show, courtesy of Shane Warne’s six wickets and Brett Lee’s four, England were bowled out for a mere 182 runs. Nevertheless, England had a lead of 99 runs, which meant with Australia’s target was 282 runs.

Egbaston Ashes 2005, Watch here:

With the batting line-up studded with talented batsmen like Matthew Hayden, Justin Langer, Ricky Ponting and more, Australia were expected to chase it down comfortably. The English side at home have always dominated and hence, chasing in England in the final innings has never been a cake walk, no matter how good the team is. Australia lost the Edgbaston Test by as many as two runs and the match still remains to be the Test with a result of second lowest margin.

The ongoing Edgbaston Test between India and England looks like going on the same steps as the Ashes clash 13 years back.

If not for Kohli, the battle was lost long time back. The fight on Saturday will be up against an entire England side against one-man army, Kohli. The first hour is going to be crucial, if the weather turns out to be gloomy and cloudy again, Joe Root will not think twice before throwing the ball straight away to young Curran, whose swing and moving ball could be a massive test for the Indian captain.

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