If Virat Kohli would have played for Surrey earlier this County Season, he could have understood the youngster called Sam Curran.
India were prepared for the likes of James Anderson and Stuart Broad but the bowler who made the difference on the second day of the ongoing first Test turned out to be 20-year-old Surrey's pacer, Sam.
However, Kohli suffered a neck injury that forced him out of his Surrey stint. And, approximately a month later, one-Test old Sam struck an experienced Indian top-order in a span of eight balls.
The Indian openers, Murali Vijay and Shikhar Dhawan gave one of the most decent starts overseas in a Test innings in the recent times. They had studied Broad and Anderson well and which is why they looked untroubled at 50 for no less as the runs came in an ease.
The moment
Looking for a solution, England Captain Joe Root turned to his 20-year-old left-arm pacer, Sam Curran, especially when it is a well-known fact how Indian batsmen struggle against left-arm pacers. The extra swing just set the stage up for a young Curran, who was about to begin a spell, he would remember for a very long time.
A journalist reporting from Edgbaston posted a picture of the stadium saying it had got cloudy which is conducive for swing bowling. A few minutes later, Curran broke the opening stand as he trapped Vijay leg before wicket. The magic of swing had just begun.
However, two balls later when India lost KL Rahul, it was purely because of his wrong choice of shot. He tried to lazily drive a fuller length delivery but only ended up getting a thick inside edge that clattered back on to the stumps.
A charged-up Sam leapt in the air, punching in the air, a second time in the same over.
Similar to Rahul, Dhawan chose the wrong delivery to drive. The ball was in full swing, Dhawan could have easily left the fifth delivery of the 16th over but instead, he chose to drive and a thick edge went straight into the safe hands of Dawid Malan at the second slip.
Although the Indian Captain Virat Kohli overshadowed Sam's heroics with his maiden Test century on the English soil later in the day, Sam's spell will still be considered as one of the best moments in the ongoing Test, irrespective of the eventual result.
Playing in his just second Test, that too against the World No. 1 Test team, Sam had figures of 3 for 13 in his first four overs of the day. By the time India's innings ended, Sam had another wicket to his name and he finished with figures of 4 for 74 - the best in an English bowling attack boasting of Anderson, Broad and Ben Stokes. He is the youngest Englishman to take four wickets in a test match.
He was not only faster than these senior men but also swung the ball almost 50 percent more than them and hence that drew a line between his performance and the theirs.
Who is Sam Curran?
Cricket runs in Curran's blood. His father, Kevin Curran was a Zimbabwean cricketer and brother, Tom Curran is Sam's Surrey teammate and has also played for England in Tests and One-Day Internationals (ODI).
While Tom was born in Cape Town, Sam in Northampton, a county town in Northamptonshire. The Curran brothers grew up in Harare, Zimbabwe, where their father pursued a cricket coaching career. They resided in a family farm in Rusape before Robert Mugabe’s regime in 2004 evicted them from there.
In 2012, their father, Kevin passed away from a heart attack while jogging. Tom was spotted by Surrey playing in a tournament in South Africa and they found a place for him at Wellington College in Berkshire.
Soon after that, all the three brothers, Tom, Ben and Sam received scholarships from the college which saw them move to England with their mother the same year in December.
Sam made his Surrey debut in 2015 in NatWest T20 Blast against Kent when he was 17 years and 16 days old. A month later, in July, Sam took his first steps into First-Class cricket too. It was a special moment as he opened bowling for Surrey with his brother Tom. He returned with figures of 5 for 101 and claimed a total of eight scalps in the match.
In the next two years (2016 and 2017), Surrey played Sam in six or seven-odd games in the County One Division Championship, and the teenager always managed to pick 20 wickets at least in a season. Earlier this year, just before turning 20, Sam clinched his career-best figures in First-Class format.
In a game against Yorkshire, then uncapped Sam took 10 for 101 across two innings as Surrey thrashed Yorkshire by an innings and 17 runs at The Oval. His victims included Root and Cheteshwar Pujara, whom he dismissed twice.
That performance earned him his Test call-up. English Cricket Board called him as a replacement for injured Ben Stokes and Sam made his Test debut in the second Testa against Pakistan at Leeds. He picked up two wickets and score 20 runs in his first Test.
Considering he is just 20 years old, 110 First-Class wickets is an amazing effort for a boy of that age. He certainly is more mature than his age. It's a bitter fact that the likes of Anderson and Broad are losing their pace with age and Curran being a left-armer who has more pace could be a great prospect for England.
His batting abilities only strengthen his case for a Test spot and his all-rounder skills was one of the major reasons he was called for the India Test ahead of anyone else. Just two days into the ongoing Test and he has already justified his inclusion. Although he did not score big, the way he batted through the 71 deliveries he faced on the opening day of the Test was commendable.
In one of the interviews, Curran had once said that he wanted to see himself in a batting role that Ben Stokes does for England. In an attempt to turn into a batting all-rounder, he has also expressed his desire to bat higher up the order for Surrey and has scored 11 half-centuries in 42 First-Class games.
Irrespective of is future role, the second day of the Edgbaston Test, 2018, will always be remembered for a 20-year-old's heroics with the ball.
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