India vs England 2016 1st Test: 5 Talking Points

The Rajkot Test between India and England may have ended in a draw, but it proved to be an intriguing five days of action with the visitors holding fort for a large part of the game.

There were many aspect in the game which were talked about. Here are the five talking points:

5.The Rajkot pitch- Good or Bad

For a venue hosting its first ever Test match, the pitch at Rajkot found mixed reviews from several quarters. While many appreciated the work done in producing a deck that had something for all, others felt India had missed a great chance of taking the lead in the series, by not dishing out a rank turner.

In the overall scheme of things, it would be slightly unfair to judge the venue based on just one game and hopefully, next time, when the Indian team plays in the city, one would have the opportunity to see a favourable result.

4.England’s middle-order comes good

Joe Root made his second hundred on Indian soil

After having a torrid time in the second Test in Bangladesh, the England middle-order had a much better time in Rajkot. Joe Root began his series on a positive note, stroking his way to a hundred.

Moeen Ali did hos chance of retaining a place in the Top 5 no harm, by making a ton of his own and then Ben Stokes joined in the fun as well, helping himself to a ton that helped propel the visitors to a score above 500.

This workout for them will certainly give them a lot of confidence in what promises to be a long tour for them.

3.Hameed makes a big impression

Haseeb Hameed made a fine impression on everyone watching the game

At the start of the game, the England team management made the big call of handing young 19-year-old batsman Haseeb Hameed a debut. Any player would tell you that your international game is never an easy experience and that becomes an even more daunting task when it comes away from home.

But the Lancastrian showed very little nerves and impressed one-and-all with his classical technique and made his first Test half-century in the second innings.He was eventually out for 82 but had provided enough indications to everyone that he belonged to the international stage and could well be the solution to England’s top-order woes.

2.Trio fail to turn it on

The spin trio were poor in the Rajkot Test

India went in with three spinners into this game, hoping to spin them out in both innings, but the trio of Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Ami Mishra could not rise yup to the occasion and only managed to take 9 wickets between them in the entire game.

While there was little assistance for them in the first innings, it was their performance in the second innings that was disappointing. With the track offering enough assistance, the trio should have certainly put forth a much better showing than they did and will be gutted to have not made the most of the conditions on offer.

1.The Decision Review System-How did it fare?

Cheteshwar Pujara had an eventful Test as far as the DRS was concerned

Not only was the Saurashtra Cricket Association stadium in Rajkot makings its debut, but so was the Decision Review System, which was used for the first time on Indian soil during this Test match.

There were not many memorable moments for India as far as the use of technology was concerned barring the instance when Cheteshwar Pujara made good use of it during the first innings that eventually helped him get to his hundred.

However, in the second innings, his judgement of technology proved wrong as he failed to take the review, when the ball had clearly pitched outside the leg stump, instead deciding to adhere to the umpire’s decision.

While it may be too early to judge the technology after a single game, India will hope to make a more productive use of it in the upcoming matches.