Fiery Ravindra Jadeja Takes India To 170 For 8, Virat Kohli Fails Yet Again

Birmingham, July 9 (PTI): India’s new-look batting order showed much-required intent from the onset but was done by extra bounce as England restricted the visitors to a decent 170 for eight in the second T20I here on Saturday.
Ravindra Jadeja (46 not out off 29 balls), who is all set to leave Chennai Super Kings, having gone through a horrible IPL and fractured relationships, found his lost batting touch in the shortest format with an innings that helped India touch the 170-run mark.
Jadeja’s innings had five boundaries and was also his highest score in T20Is.
It looked distant at one stage when the Indian team was reduced to 89 for five, just after the halfway mark and the batting collapse certainly impeded the side’s progress as it was at least 20 runs short of par-score.
Skipper Rohit Sharma (31 off 20 balls) had a new opening partner in Rishabh Pant (26 off 15 balls) and they struck the right chord with attractive shots in the powerplay overs which has been the T20 team’s mantra.
However, debutant Richard Gleeson (3/15 in 4 overs) and seasoned Chris Jordan (4/27 in 4 overs) both bowled fast and straight while slipping in well disguised short balls that created trouble for the Indian batters.
Gleeson couldn’t have had it better as he removed Rohit with a lethal bouncer where he followed the batter when he was charging out, while bowling a pacey fuller delivery to an out-of-form Virat Kohli (1) and the result was a brilliant catch by Dawid Malan, who ran a good 10-12 yards backwards.
It seemed Kohli felt pressure of scoring quickly and the shot selection was an indicator.
The very next delivery, he slightly shortened the length as he found Pant coming down the track and the inside edge was pouched by Jos Buttler behind the stumps.
The decision to send Pant as Rohit’s partner was certainly an impressive move as both showed that they have bought in the new philosophy of attacking from the word go as Rohit hit a couple of sixes — a ‘pick-up’ pull behind square and one over long-off.
He also pulled Moeen Ali while Pant at the other end lofted Sam Curran over his head and steered and flicked David Willey through third-man and deep fine-leg respectively.
Not to be left behind in hitting sixes, he got a six off Moeen but once both were dismissed, there was a collapse.