In England, it has become customary to look at Kevin Pietersen
and see only a problem. In India, the talk is of his star quality. That
unmistakeable batting talent was to the fore once more on a sweltering
second day of the Mumbai Test as he began to put his tribulations behind
him and rebuild an England career that he once imagined might be lost
for ever.
Alastair Cook,
the England captain who must manage Pietersen's maverick talents, must
have looked down the pitch and concluded that this was a problem worth
having. Cook, who in his worst moments must have imagined that India was
becoming an insurmountable challenge, could spot an ally from 22 yards
away. Between them, they stilled India's spin-bowling frenzy.
Cook was 13 runs short of another Test hundred at the close, another
formidable innings in pressing circumstances. Alongside him, Pietersen
had made an unbeaten 62 in enterprising fashion. Instead of talk of
"reintegration," as formally laid down by the ECB, they chatted
informally between overs of cricketing matters, of runs and wickets and
ambitions to win a Test and square the series. It is far too premature
to suggest that the good times were returning, but perhaps the deepest
pain is behind them.
One bemused Indian pundit, observing Pietersen in full flow, suggested
that he struggled to cope with the regimented ways of England, where
people "liked to stand in queues." Well, they have certainly been
queuing up in recent months to take a pop at Pietersen. He will hear
little such criticism in Mumbai. It is perhaps no surprise that in the
county which lavishes more affection on him than any other he began to
rediscover his mojo.
Pietersen, lambasted for a frenzied approach in Ahmedabad, played
confidently against India's spinners from the outset. He confidently
despatched his first ball, from Harbhajan Singh, to the cover boundary.
Another upbeat drive against Pragyan Ojha restated his well-being. His
footwork was trim, his misjudgements were rare. There were times when
his presence alone seemed enough to draw errors in length from the
Indian spin attack.
Cook was the classier. Twice he used his feet to Ojha, hitting him over
mid-on for six and four, as he combated the bowler's leg-stump line,
backed up by three close leg-side catchers. As his innings progressed,
he swept as productively as at any time in his Test career. They were
shots illustrative of a batsman carefully extending his range.
The sweep shot injured two India short legs in the process. Chesteshwar
Pujara was struck in the ribs and left the field. The substitute,
Ajinkya Rahane, emerged with more padding than a luxury sofa and pulled
off some nerveless, agile stops - a sofa on casters - before he, too
took a battering and withdrew from service. There was not a noticeable
rush to take his place.
R Ashwin bowled the best over at Cook - a top-edged sweep, two play and
misses and an edge short of slip reminding England that this test could
swing India's way in a flash - but Harbhajan, returning from a 15-month
absence for his 99th Test, found little to sustain him.
Cook built an opening stand of 66 in 31 overs with Nick Compton as
India's spinners initially struggled to find much purchase and, after
England's miserable year, he must have found the relative calm of the
Wankhede Stadium strangely eerie. Then it started again, a cacophony of
shouts and cheers, as Compton and Jonathan Trott departed to Ohja to
leave India buoyant at the end of an afternoon session where they had to
work hard to make an impression.
Trott, so often the rock in England's better days, is looking more
fallible by the moment on India's turning pitches and his footwork was
uncertain as he edged back to the sixth ball he faced, from Ojha, to be
plumb lbw. His expression looks stonier and stonier. As do his feet.
Moments earlier, Compton's stubborn resistance ended when his defensive
edge carried comfortably to Virender Sehwag at first slip. Compton has
made a strikingly cautious start to his Test career - this latest vigil
brought 29 from 90 deliveries but his defence has been sound and his
commitment undeniable..
England have also found a way to dismiss Pujara in India. Shortly before
lunch, Graeme Swann drifted one wide, drew him down the pitch and as
Matt Prior removed the bails Pujara had been stumped for the first time
in his first-class career. Simple. After around 17 hours in the series.
He finished on 135, from 350 balls, to follow his unbeaten double
hundred in the first Test in Ahmedabad and his thought processes
remained crisp and logical to the end.
England's spinners again capitalised on helpful conditions as India
added another 61 in 25.1 overs to their overnight 266 for 6. Monty
Panesar ended Ashwin's reviving knock with a brisk arm ball and finished
with 5 for 129 on his return to Test cricket. Graeme Swann took three
of the last four wickets to fall to finish with 4 for 70, including his
200th Test scalp when he trapped Harbhajan lbw, and was also helped by
an erroneous decision by umpire Aleem Dar when he gave out Zaheer Khan
at short leg.
After his 34 overs on the first day, Panesar was a picture of
concentration, his eyes set in a blank stare of concentration as if
saying: "Processes for Mushy bhai, processes for Mushy bhai".
However, England's fielding lapses remain an everyday occurrence. Trott
was the latest culprit, failing to lock on to Harbhajan's edge to his
left at first slip. He was perhaps fleetingly unsighted by Prior's
gloves, but Trott's starting position was poor and his reactions were
lumbering. He has not fielded regularly at slip for some time and it
showed.
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