Ravindra Jadeja produced a moment of brilliance to give India a small sigh of relief on Day 2 at Headingley. The left-arm off-spinner clean-bowled England opener Haseeb Hameed with a fantastic delivery to claim his first victim of the series.
The wicket came on the last ball of the 63rd over. Ravindra Jadeja gave good reps to the ball, which pitched between the middle and off stumps and straightened just enough to go just past the batsman's edge and hit the top of the off-stump. Haseeb Hameed lost his wicket after a fighting 195-ball 68.
Here's the video:
The wicket will perhaps fill Ravindra Jadeja with confidence. His selection has been under scrutiny, given that he's keeping out Ravichandran Ashwin. He didn't get much help in the first two Tests with the ball and even failed with the bat in the first innings at Headingley. India will hope to see this wicket converted into a wicket-taking spell and then a fruitful series for Ravindra Jadeja.
Meanwhile, Haseeb Hameed, despite looking a bit scratchy in his knock, will give some confidence to the hosts who have been struggling with their openers for quite some time now. It wouldn't be a drastic assumption to say that the 24-year-old has booked his spot at the top, at least for the rest of this series.
Long way to go for India despite Ravindra Jadeja's breakthrough
Ravindra Jadeja's wicket came at just the right moment for India. Shoulders had started to drop in the visitors camp as England crawled towards a 100-run lead. Although this will surely help morale, Virat Kohli knows that his team is still a long way behind the eight-ball mark.
England's new No. 3 recurit Dawid Malan has looked assured at the crease and Hameed's wicket has brought in the series' top-scorer Joe Root. India will need to get these two out as quickly as possible to have any chance in the game.
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