A strong reply from the Indian batsmen has left the fourth Test evenly poised as the hosts finished the second day on 146 for 1, still 254 runs behind England’s first innings total of 400.
KL Rahul and Murali Vijay started off well for hosts before Moeen Ali affected the first breakthrough by dislodging Rahul’s bails. But that was the only success that visitors enjoyed as Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara sent them on a leather hunt with an unbeaten partnership of 107 runs. Vijay was batting on 70 while Pujara was unbeaten on 47.
Earlier, Jos Buttler and Jake Ball helped visitors score 400 runs in the first innings. Resuming the day on 288 for 5, England made a poor start as they lost Ben Stokes with only nine runs added to the scoreboard. Chris Woakes and Adil Rashid did not last long either but a 54-run partnership helped Alastair Cook’s men reach the 400-run mark. Ravichandran Ashwin was the most successful bowler for India with six wickets while the remaining four went to Ravindra Jadeja.
Here is how Twitter reacted to the day’s play:
@ashwinravi99 has repeatedly proved that succeeding on helpful tracks requires skill and guile. #INDvENG
— W V Raman (@wvraman) December 9, 2016
https://twitter.com/AllTimeBakchod/status/807172354807775236?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
https://twitter.com/AllTimeBakchod/status/807164186161618945?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
A short leg, silly mid on, square leg & midwicket. Anderson with a leg side plan but gets hit for 2 fours on off side off Pujara. #INDvENG
— Jigar Mehta (@jigsactin) December 9, 2016
https://twitter.com/imRo450/status/807149814739660800
important innings for rahul, his season has been stumbly so far – low scores interspersed with injuries #INDvENG
— Gaurav Kalra (@gauravkalra75) December 9, 2016
https://twitter.com/SpiceBoxofEarth/status/807119040456036352?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
https://twitter.com/MichaelVaughan/status/807111535776722945
Two bowlers taking all 10 wkts in an inngs for #INDvENG :
Amarnath/ Mankad, 1946
Bedi/ Chandra, 1972
Kapil/ M Lal, 1981
R Ashwin/ R Jadeja *— Deepu Narayanan (@deeputalks) December 9, 2016
Few yrs back it was Sachin Sachin , Now its Ashwin – Ashwin .@ashwinravi99 following the Crowds with his rhythmic offspin beauties #IndvsEng
— sanjay mishra (@mithilachase) December 8, 2016
Sometimes absence highlights the importance more than the presence…Indian Pacers haven't picked up a single wicket here. #Shami #IndvsEng
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) December 9, 2016
England have already started well with the "ball".
— Alagappan Vijayakumar (@IndianMourinho) December 9, 2016
https://twitter.com/DennisCricket_/status/807077517811007488?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Ravi Ashwin's Daily Routine:
– Wake Up
– Eat
– Take Five-for If Bowling/Score Half Century If Batting
– Sleep
– Repeat #INDvsENG #INDvENG pic.twitter.com/2s4WLzbKx9— Sir Jadeja fan (@SirJadeja) December 9, 2016
Indian off-spinner R Ashwin equals Kapil Dev's record of 23 five-wicket hauls in Test cricket. #INDvsENG
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) December 9, 2016
https://twitter.com/sunil332011/status/807075916111179776
23rd Five-for For Ashwin. Equals Kapil Dev. Only Kumble(35) & Harbhajan(25) Are Ahead Of Him. #Legend#INDvENG #INDvsENG
— Sir Jadeja fan (@SirJadeja) December 9, 2016
Early joy for crowd as Stokes departs. A fan gets up and shouts "hum lagaan nahi denge, hum lagaan nahi denge" about 25 times. ? #INDvENG
— Jigar Mehta (@jigsactin) December 9, 2016