Despite an impressive 153 from Ben Duckett, India's bowling attack bowled out England for 319.
Despite the relaxed attitude of the players even when the score was 200 for 2, the Indian attack, led by R Ashwin's words, was able to take eight wickets in a session and a half after the shock of a sensational Ben Duckett hundred on day two of the Test. Ashwin may have pulled out of the Test overnight for personal reasons, but his confidence in the team's abilities was justified. Kuldeep Yadav delivered an excellent spell that almost ran through the first session, softening England up. In the second session, Mohammed Siraj took advantage of this and India took the last eight wickets for just 95 runs.
India secured a first-innings lead of 126 and their batters finally scored the runs that should be scored off an inexperienced and inaccurate attack. India finished the day with a lead of 322 runs, thanks to Yashasvi Jaiswal's sparkling century. This is 84 runs more than what they had at the start of the day. Ashwin was confident of a comeback on a pitch that was expected to deteriorate further for batting.
Despite the relaxed attitude of the players even when the score was 200 for 2, the Indian attack, led by R Ashwin's words, was able to take eight wickets in a session and a half after the shock of a sensational Ben Duckett hundred on day two of the Test. Ashwin may have pulled out of the Test overnight for personal reasons but his confidence in the team's abilities was justified. Kuldeep Yadav delivered an excellent spell that almost ran through the first session, softening England up. In the second session, Mohammed Siraj took advantage of this and India took the last eight wickets for just 95 runs.
India secured a first-innings lead of 126 and their batters finally scored the runs that should be scored off an inexperienced and inaccurate attack. India finished the day with a lead of 322 runs, thanks to Yashasvi Jaiswal's sparkling century. This is 84 runs more than what they had at the start of the day. Ashwin was confident of a comeback on a pitch that was expected to deteriorate further for batting.
Five of the 12 wickets fell in the first hour on the first two days. It was important for India to take advantage of the moisture early in the morning. In the absence of Ashwin, they started with Jasprit Bumrah and Kuldeep. It was immediately apparent that there was more movement available than in the second half of day two, when Duckett had led England to 207 for 2 in 35 overs.
While Bazball can give, it can also take away. Joe Root, who has bowled more overs than he has scored runs in this series, attempted a reverse scoop in Bumrah's third over of the day but ended up hitting it to second slip where Jaiswal took a sharp catch. To be fair to Root, he had scored 64 runs with that shot in just 23 balls for one dismissal. What followed was a true test of the dressing room's disregard for results. That is the biggest building block of Bazball.
Duckett reminded India of their problem in the early exchanges. Kuldeep had a deep square leg for the sweep and deep cover for the reverse sweep. But he swept from in front of the stumps and deliberately in front of the square. He picked up an easy single when India sent another man back.
Kuldeep responded by going wider and looking for more overspin. This kept Duckett quiet and drew an edge on the reverse sweep, resulting in his first boundary off an edge. Eventually, after reaching 150, he hit a short ball straight to cover. The ball stopped and turned unexpectedly. India was in a good position: the pitch was misbehaving, a high-risk shot went straight to hand, and Kuldeep was bowling beautifully.
Kuldeep was settling into a good rhythm, giving the ball a good spin and deceiving both in the air and on the ground. Prior to dismissing Duckett, Kuldeep beat Bairstow in the air and then trapped him for his eighth duck against India, the most by any batter.
Kuldeep bowled through the session, except for one over, and finished with figures of 12-1-35-2 on day three. Although he only took two wickets, it laid the groundwork for India to concede just 83 runs in 26 overs during the session, giving them some control over England's free-scoring batters.
After lunch, Ben Stokes attempted to take some risks, but they did not all pay off. Ravindra Jadeja, who has raised a few eyebrows in the series by bowling around the wicket to the left-hand batter, got him out on the slog sweep due to that angle. The ball did not turn, and Stokes was caught out. Tom Hartley had a similar experience, charging him but being beaten by the lack of turn and stumped to give Dhruv Jurel his first Test victim.
At the other end, Siraj charged in, turned the ball on its head and raced through the lower order. Ben Foakes received a delivery that stopped on the surface and then carried all the way to mid-on for a catch. Rehan Ahmed was dismissed by a superb yorker that he even cue-ended, but couldn't save his off stump. Siraj's full delivery, backward off stump, was too good for James Anderson. For once, India had ended an innings in just 85 false responses, a stroke of luck they deserved after the hard work in the first four innings of the series.
For the fifth time in the series, India's young batting group had the chance to bat England out of a match. Their innings began on the middle day of the third Test. By the end of the day, it seemed the series had turned a corner. The four-man attack, with only one spinner making his debut this series, had struggled. Their best spinner, Root, took their first wicket, dismissing Rohit Sharma lbw with a ball that was too full.
Jaiswal and Shubman Gill started slowly, absorbing the best England had to offer, and reached 75 for 1 in 26 overs. Jaiswal appeared at ease, while Gill seemed to have started moving back and across to cover the off stump better. The floodgates opened on the 27th over. At 35 off 73, Jaiswal flicked a switch, hooking Anderson, then dismissively pulled him in front of square, and lofted Hartley for two sixes down the ground. Suddenly, he was 61 off 81.
Jaiswal hit Ahmed down the ground and then swept Root for his 18th six in just seven Tests. He also executed two reverse-swept boundaries in three balls off Ahmed, using the same technique as England. This occurred shortly after head coach Rahul Dravid may have instructed him to be more aggressive. Jaiswal reached his third Test hundred by cutting in front of square off Mark Wood, who was bowling with a square field for the short ball.
Gill, who had been relatively quiet until then, demonstrated his presence by hitting Mark Wood for a six to reach his fifty off 98 balls. During the 155-run partnership, he only scored 57 runs. Unfortunately, the partnership was interrupted when Jaiswal had to retire hurt due to back pain, likely as a precaution for the upcoming Test in Ranchi.