England vs India 2018, 1st Test Day 2: Test cricket at its best

"Test cricket is boring. Nothing goes on except plain blocking and defending. I would rather follow the score on my phone and watch the highlights later. There are no exquisite shots being played and no boundaries being scored on a regular basis. Who watches Test matches anyway?"

To those people that might echo the above sentiment, I have one request to all of them. Watch the ongoing Test match between England and India at Edgbaston. At least one whole session. You might change your opinion.

Day 2 of the Test match. The day when batting was supposed to be the easiest. The day when the ball doesn't do much. But what actually happened?

The day started with India having the upper hand and ended with India having the upper hand. What happened in between can be compared to a pendulum where the momentum kept swinging from one side to another. India wrapped things up by taking the last wicket of England within two overs. The Indian openers then came out and put up a 50-run stand. At that time, India looked set to score 300+ and gain a huge lead. Then came the first shift.

A 20-year-old was thrown the ball. A ball which two of the senior bowlers failed to extract substantial swing from. His first two overs were uneventful. But in the fourth ball of his third over, he got one to swing into the right-hander and had Murali Vijay trapped in front LBW. Within no time, he got two more scalps. The ball, which hitherto wouldn't move at all, started magically moving in all sorts of ways for this newcomer. This was the coming of age for young Sam Curran as he had India reeling at 76-3 at the end of the first session.

Sam Curran celebrates, along with his team, after a successful DRS appeal

But had India's hopes completely gone down the drain? No! They still had Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane (who performed really well during India's last tour in 2014) at the crease and an in-form Dinesh Karthik yet to come. They had their work cut out for them but it was not something that was beyond them and they were determined to see India through a tough phase. But the England bowlers had other ideas.

Watching young Sam Curran swing the ball around seemed to have reinvigorated the old warhorse James Anderson, as he had a spring in his step when the ball was given to him at the start of the second session. And his adversary at the crease? The Indian captain, Virat Kohli. It was the rivalry that everyone had talked about prior to the start of the series (and will talk about during the series).

Anderson bowled one of the best spells in Test cricket history that did not yield a wicket. He drew Kohli forward, inducing him to play a false shot. He set things up perfectly for a wicket, and he finally got the edge that carried to the slip fielder, but unfortunately, it was dropped. Anderson got the moral victory, but Kohli was still there at the crease. This was a superb effort from Anderson as he bowled 3 maiden overs on the trot to Kohli. Not once could you take your eyes off the screen during this spell.

While all this was going on at one end, you had all sorts of action happening at the other end. Ben Stokes, known more for his batting prowess than his bowling skill, bowled one of his best spells ever. He had Rahane struggling and eventually picked up his wicket. He then bowled a beautiful in-swinger to Dinesh Karthik that sent his middle stump flying. The next batsman to walk out was Hardik Pandya, who was touted to be Stokes' Indian counterpart as a batting all-rounder. He looked like a fish out of water during his first 10-15 balls.

He even nicked one, but unfortunately, it was dropped again. But credit to him. He hung in there for as long as possible, tempering his natural instinct to attack. This is what Test cricket is all about. It tests your patience and your temperament. He eventually fell to a yorker from Sam Curran. At the end of the second session, India were 160-6, with Kohli still batting. By this time the pendulum had completely shifted towards England's side.

Ben Stokes bowled one of his best spells

Then came the next shift. Ashwin and Shami fell in quick succession. With Kohli stranded on one end, the next phase of his innings began. He farmed the strike for most of his partnerships with the tail and single-handedly ate into the lead of the Englishmen to eventually reach his century. In my opinion, this is the best innings that Kohli has played just because of the fact that he toiled hard for the first 50 runs, watching wickets fall at the other end while weathering the Anderson storm.

He had his fair share of luck, but he capitalized on that luck, which is what good players do. In the end, England's lead was brought down to a paltry 13 runs, opening up the game for India to come back in the second innings. India then ended the day on a high note, when Ashwin picked up Cook in the exact same way he did in the first innings, leaving England at 9-1.

Everyone has run out of superlatives to describe this man

This whole day was just riveting to watch. It had it all. A young fast bowler bowling superbly, an experienced bowler getting inspired by it and bowling like he did in his prime, another layer being added to a historic rivalry (setting things up for the future), an all-rounder bowling faster than the main bowlers in the side and a batting masterclass from arguably the best batsman in the world. You will not be able to witness the complete picture in any highlights package. You need to have watched it live to really experience it. It was, as the title says, Test cricket at its best.