India v/s England: A draw to ponder upon

The largest crowd in five days for Rajkot's first ever Test went home disappointed on Sunday. Not just because of their failure to exchange the Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes despite standing in long queues outside banks, but also because they saw the No. 1 Test nation being troubled by the England spinners.

Those who managed to brave the heat and get tickets with their Rs 100 notes – the top two tiers in the eastern stands of the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium was nearly full after ticket rates were slashed by two-thirds – came in with the anticipation of an India victory. That the hosts salvaged a draw from a hopeless situation of 71/4 would have come as a relief to the Rajkotians.

India survived another 29 overs even as leg-spinner Adil Rashid and off-spinner Moeen Ali spun the Indian top-order cheaply to raise hopes of an England victory. There was more drama as India were six down with at least 6.3 overs for Virat Kohli to bat with the rest. With the England spinners bowling at a quicker rate, India survived the last 10 overs with Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja sticking their necks out to earn a well-deserved draw, finishing at 172/6.

It was England under Alastair Cook that last won a Test series, or even a Test, in India during the 2012-13 season. No other team that toured India including Australia, South Africa and New Zealand came anywhere near winning a game, forget a rubber.

During the last four years, India were rarely tested at home. That they were up against the wall right in the first Test of a five-match series would have shaken Kohli and Co. but certainly not stirred them.

The fightback on Sunday with Kohli himself leading from the front with a gritty 49* will only boost the confidence of the Indian team as they look to bounce back in the next four Tests and avenge the series defeat of the previous one.

As the going got tough for India, Kohli and Ravichandran Ashwin (32) survived anxious moments when they had five fielders surrounding the bat, something that they have not been used to at home.

The tension in the Indian camp eased when local lad Jadeja (32*) picked up boundaries in the vacant outfield as they played out the last 10 overs before shaking hands with their visiting counterparts.

An India win was one out of the three possible outcomes as both the teams envisaged on the fourth evening. But that was least likely. The hosts were faced with a target of 310 from a minimum of 49 overs after Cook (130) declared their second innings at 260/3 about half-an-hour after the lunch interval.

Scoring at under 6.50 an over was a possibility in 50-overs cricket, easily achievable in T20 cricket. But certainly not in Tests, especially on a fifth day pitch on which the ball turned the most, if you go by the manner in which Ajinkya Rahane was bowled by off-spinner Moeen Ali.

Earlier in the day, the visitors needed to score at a faster pace if they had to force an improbable victory. That they added only 36 to their overnight total of 114 in the first hour did not help their cause.

Realising the urge to speed up the scoring rate, Cook took the responsibility upon himself. It began when he tucked Umesh Yadav to square leg and ran like a hare with his teenaged opener Haseeb Hameed supporting him excitedly to complete two runs.

Cook's intent was clear. Taking 28 deliveries more than Hameed to reach his 53rd Test fifty, Cook overtook Hameed with some delightful strokes and quick running.

Their urgency reflected in the second hour of the morning when they scored 61 runs in 14 overs during which Cook reached his 30th Test century, overtaking the all-time great Don Bradman of Australia, and his fifth in India (sixth against India) while Hameed missed his by 18 runs.

Hameed, who is being spoken of very highly by former England captains as well as contemporaries, was looking set for a century on Test debut. He was batting with ease against Ashwin and leg-spinner Amit Mishra. An otherwise blemishless knock of 82, his only mistake was through lapse in concentration when he swatted the ball to give Amit Mishra a return catch.

This saw England promote the hard-hitting Ben Stokes to No. 4 ahead of Ben Duckett and Moeen Ali. Had England accelerated in the morning's first hour, their declaration might have come earlier and given their bowlers more overs than the 49. With India managing to survive, Cook may well have miscalculated his timing of declaration.