India Dominates England on Day 2 as West Indies Tail Wags Against Australia

Currently, Mark Wood seems to be the most well-liked cricket player in England.

Soon after the second new ball was bowled, the stands next to their dressing room were filled with shouts to put in the England fast bowler, despite his two harmless sessions on the second day.

Wood was eventually forced to bowl by Ben Stokes, but on this sluggish surface at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, he didn't really do much. Wood wasn't suited for the circumstances, therefore it wouldn't be fair to place all the responsibility on him.

A slow-moving day saw 302 runs scored, as England's three specialist spinners—aside from part-timer Joe Root—failed horribly as India outbatted them. India leads the first Test of the series by 175 runs in the end, and the English batsmen will need to perform extraordinarily well to win. Their luck didn't even improve when Root switched the bails at the striker's end after tea.

If KL Rahul's composed 86 demonstrated the qualities of effort and temperament, then Axar Patel and Ravindra Jadeja's restrained aggressiveness would have shamed some of the English top-order batsmen. In an uninterrupted stand of 63 off 117 balls, Axar smacked the last three balls of the day from Tom Hartley for two boundaries and a six, fittingly summarising the state of things over a prolonged final session.

After the first two days of the series, Bazball's survival in Indian circumstances is, to put it simply, in jeopardy. For example, Root bowled up to 24 overs in one day.

In an attempt to reduce the angles, Stokes drew up some odd fields with six men on the leg side, three of them standing in a perpendicular line near the wicket. Another time, the short mid-off area was surrounded by three fielders positioned arcwise close to one another.

However, his spinners were unable to damage India's hopes because they could not quite find the correct length or accuracy. With the possible exception of KS Bharat, the bowlers could barely claim much credit for the six wickets that fell on the day on a ground that gave sluggish turn.

Yashasvi Jaiswal left the field after a return catch on the fourth delivery of the day, and apart from one run out, the hitters' attacking instincts resulted in four more in the outfield.

Rahul's deft movement, his ability to neutralize the turn with soft hands and a strong defense all played a significant role in England's outcome. Since Rahul's exit, Jadeja has always managed to maintain the scoreboard's momentum while preventing the bowlers from taking over.

a quality that experts like Shreyas Iyer and Shubman Gill lacked. With Virat Kohli out of the picture, both batsmen' spots in the Test team had been in doubt. This was their chance to solidify their spots.

Gill's best score after making a century in Ahmedabad against Australia in March of last year was 36 in ten innings. His average is just 30.37, which is not bad for a hitter of his background.

Gill had the freedom to rotate the strike and become comfortable in his new position after Jaiswal had set the stage during Thursday's final session. However, he withdrew into a shell.

The young hitter has struggled to advance and has not been able to translate his performance in white-ball onto the lengthier format. When he smacked Hartley to mid-wicket, his meek 23 off 66 balls came to an end. He had survived on 14 when Stokes lost sight of the ball against the sun.

Iyer didn't do much better. Stokes, fully aware of his weaknesses against the low-pitched material, called for Wood, but the strategy proved fruitless. Wood has been a letdown on this sluggish surface, and England must have missed the cutters James Anderson had.

Iyer made 35 before sending it straight down to Tom Hartley after taking a glaring swipe at Rehan Ahmed. Although he is a devastating spin bowler, the burden will be on him to do better given his meager rewards. If Kohli had been here, he would have been benched, but he will risk losing his spot in the team if he can't break free in this innings.

Jadeja, who is now 19 runs shy of a fourth century in Test cricket, will want to achieve his feat on Saturday after sabotaging any prospects of an English comeback.