'Captain Boom' rattles England: Smashes Lara's world record with bat, wreaks havoc with ball
Birmingham, Jul 2: Skipper Jasprit Bumrah held sway with a mesmerizing all-round performance, which included a world record feat with the bat and an incisive spell with the ball as India seized complete control from England on a rain-hit second day of the rescheduled fifth Test here on Saturday.
Such was the power of Bumrah's all-round show (31 off 16 balls and 3/35) in his first appearance as India captain that it easily overshadowed Ravindra Jadeja's superbly constructed third Test hundred that took India to a commanding first innings score of 416.
England were in all sorts of trouble with half of the team back in the pavilion with the scoreboard reading a score 84 for 5 with the hosts 332 runs behind the visitors.
In the first session, Stuart Broad must have had a feeling of 'deja vu' when he was literally butchered by the stand-in Indian captain, who scored 29 runs with the willow and also was gifted six extra runs to make it 35, highest ever in a single over in Test cricket.
In his first match at the helm as captain, Bumrah would have never thought that he would pip Brian Lara's maximum runs (28 runs) in a single Test match over, which remained intact for 18 years. George Bailey and Keshav Maharaj though had equalled the feat.
Broad can't be faulted if he remembered that September, 2007 night in Durban, when Yuvraj Singh pummelled him for six sixes in an over. He got his 550th Test wicket on the day but by the end of it all, Bumrah had wiped that wry smile off his face.
When England came out to bat, the skipper had nicely warmed up and bowled a menacing first spell and for a change was rewarded for even putting his "foot wrong" on two occasions that resulted in additional deliveries which fetched him a couple of wickets.
After two days of play, India held all the aces and look good to retain the Pataudi Trophy and stay in contention for a place in the World Test Championship final.
While India next play a Test series against Bangladesh in December, the second day in Edgbaston might have provided India with a realistic long-term captaincy option in traditional format as and when Rohit Sharma decides to call time on his Test career.
Bumrah was good with his bowling changes, field placements and also DRS call of his own bowling. In all, a complete package in place.
At the start of the day, Jadeja reaffirmed his status as India's most valuable player across formats as he scored his best Test hundred -- 104 off 194 balls.
This century, though, was of a far better quality than his earlier two, especially if one factors in the conditions, match situation and quality of opposition bowling.
Jadeja hit 13 boundaries, and his near four and half hours stay at the crease, gave Pant an opportunity to play his natural attacking game, even as the former dourly defended as and when required.
A punchy drive through cover-point region got him his third century four months after he got the second one in Mohali.
Having already scored 2500 runs in Test cricket alongside taking 242 wickets, Jadeja can safely be termed as the best all-rounder that the Indian team has had since the great Kapil Dev.
A Test batting average of 37 plus is better than many specialists who have played for India over the years.
Bumrah used the bat like a sword and even the top-edges seemed like ball hitting the "sweet spot" as four boundaries and two sixes came off Broad's over. There were hooks, pulls and drives to enthral the capacity crowd.
The Indian captain, in fact, gave the hosts a dose of 'Bazball' (Brendon McCullum's attacking philosophy), which had become a trending lingo in English cricket during the past few weeks.
While Rishabh Pant's century for the ages and Jadeja's third Test ton set up the platform, one can't discount the 93 runs that India added with contributions from number 9, 10 and 11.
As far as England's bowling is concerned, James Anderson (5/60), who is a month shy of turning 40, is still class personified, as he got his 32nd five-wicket haul in Test matches.
But 40 extra runs, including 14 no balls, will certainly haunt England in the long run.
Once he came out to bowl, Bumrah had by then already known left-handed opener Alex Lees' (6) weaknesses. He went round the wicket and got one to nip back slightly with the angle as it breached the opener's defence.
In case of Zak Crawley (9), Bumrah bowled a fuller delivery on the 'fourth off-stump' and Crawley's drive was snapped up by Shubman Gill stationed at third slip.
Similarly, after another rain break, he tested Ollie Pope (10) with another fuller delivery that was slightly wider and the expansive drive only ended in Shreyas Iyer's hands in the second slip.
But India saved their best for the last as Mohammed Siraj got one to rear up awkwardly with wobbly seam as England's best batter Joe Root (31) could only get into a tangle and offer a simple catch to Rishabh Pant behind stumps.
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No stubble burning now, why air pollution crisis in Delhi: Mann takes dig at BJP
Chandigarh (PTI): Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Monday slammed the BJP saying its leaders used to "defame" Punjab farmers over stubble burning and blame them for Delhi's poor air quality and questioned why is there pollution crisis in national capital despite no farm fires now.
Mann said that as soon as paddy harvest takes place, BJP leaders blame Punjab and its farmers for Delhi's poor air quality.
He said they used to claim that stubble burning by Punjab farmers causes Delhi's pollution.
Mann said at present, the Air Quality Index in major Punjab cities is between 70 and 130.
"At present, Delhi's AQI is between 450 and 500 and no smoke is coming from Punjab. But the situation in Delhi is worse. At least now they should agree that there is no role of Punjab for Delhi's poor air quality," Mann said in a video message.
Mann's remarks came on a day Delhi Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa apologised for the air pollution crisis in the national capital and acknowledged its impact on children's health.
Sirsa, however, asserted that it was the result of the policies pursued by the previous Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Delhi.
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Last month, the BJP had trashed the Punjab CM's previous claim that stubble burning in the state has no role in the high levels of air pollution in Delhi as "ridiculous".
Dismissing Mann's claim, Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva had last month said it is certain that stubble burning is a "major" factor (for the air pollution in Delhi).
Meanwhile, Mann in his video message said, due to severe floods which Punjab witnessed this year, paddy harvesting got delayed, "despite this, many Delhi ministers had already started blaming Punjab".
"I want to praise Punjab farmers, NGOs and efforts of the Punjab government have also paid off in controlling stubble burning this time. The cases of stubble burning in Punjab have reduced by 70-80 per cent and this has been acknowledged by the Central Government and the Union Agriculture Minister," Mann said.
The CM further said that after paddy harvest even the wheat crop has been sown and now, there is no incident of stubble burning.
He said BJP leaders used to claim that Punjab's smoke from stubble travels to Delhi.
"Now, there is no stubble burning, but Delhi is facing very poor air quality. This proves that earlier too Punjab's smoke had no role for Delhi's poor air quality. Only accusations were made by the BJP to defame Punjab. At least now the Centre should praise the farmers of Punjab," he said.
"Meanwhile, Delhi's AQI is between 450 and 500, flights are being cancelled, and breathing has become difficult," said Mann.
He asked both the BJP government in Delhi and the BJP led Centre to address Delhi's air pollution, saying citizens cannot even venture out for a walk due to air pollution.
He also asked the BJP that Punjab should not be dragged into this political battle, instead, Punjab's farmers should be appreciated, and the Delhi and Central governments should focus on addressing Delhi's air pollution.
Mann further said that farmers of Punjab are 'anndatas' (food providers) and they meet the country's food needs, they should not be defamed.
