Pant leaves England gasping

Stumper’s sparking ton, Jadeja’s unbeaten 83 help India fight back

James Anderson was orchestrating yet another typified spell on Friday, the kind which inspires awe and explains succinctly why he has over 650 wickets in Tests. It's a near-two-decade-old career in making legends and those lower on the batting hierarchy look mere playground-worthy.

Occasionally, though, he cannot. And it takes a certain kind of a genius and sometimes an anarchist to undo Anderson's studied, linear ways. Rishabh Pant is a bit of both, and it is beautiful. Anderson was too until he wasn't because a sagacious 24-year-old gave the near-forty-year-old yet another whiff of the new wave.

On this interspersed narrative of two men on either side of the age spectrum, the opening day of the fifth Test in Birmingham was suddenly worth the 298-day wait as India reached 338 for 7 in 73 overs at stumps after an anxiety-inducing collapse hogged attention at the start.

Frankly, when England won the toss and elected to field under bouldering grey clouds and sprinting flags at pavilion poles, there was no surprise in the pattern which ensued.

The oddly brown-red pitch defied English convention so Anderson and Stuart Broad - England's new-ball pair for the ages - had to rely on their smarts and the seam to get something started. Going by how Shubman Gill was striking the ball and how Cheteshwar Pujara - opening for only the eighth time in his career - looked in gait, there was no reason to believe a hasty fall after cruising to 27 in the seventh over.

And then it happened.

Anderson would not have visitors look good in his backyard. Matthew Potts - new to the game and careful to follow the seam-unit lead - had to play along in aggression and tactic. The duo reduced India to 98 for five in 27.5 overs. Of the five wickets which fell, one can only offer sympathy to Virat Kohli for rotten luck had something to do with him inside-edging the ball onto the stumps.

The rest have themselves to blame. But as consolation, they got to sit with their jumpers on in the pavilion, a hot cuppa in their hands, and watch what can best be summarised as a storm in a pudgy disguise. Even the rain which had marred some play stayed away for Pant.

Walking out with sleep in his eyes, Pant gave no one reason to believe he was going to take the attack to England. Yes, he has a long history of going at bowlers irrespective, but he has shown that he can play the dead bat to decent effect.

Three balls later, we knew what Pant had planned. Of course. He charged down the track and inside-edged a length ball from Anderson. Anderson smiled. Pant smiled. It was only a single to fine leg.

Two Anderson-overs later, Pant raced down the track again and flat-batted the ball past an amused Anderson to the long-off fence. The stroke had shades of the disrespect he doled out to the same bowler in Ahmedabad in March last year where he even played a reverse scoop.

He had scored a century then. He was to score now too.

In all, Pant bludgeoned 146 runs from 111 balls with 19 fours and four sixes before Joe Root's golden arm got rid of him as the day neared the end. But the comical efficiency and disdain with which Pant dismantled England will surely play a part in how this Test plays out.

He was especially taken to Jack Leach. Knowing well that Leach has a history of underperforming against quality batters, he hunted him early to pick up 14 runs in the first over he got to face from the left-arm spinner. He did get stuck into Potts eventually, but Leach was fodder for the day. Leach looked as despondent as skipper Ben Stokes.

Ravindra Jadeja, who scripted a sensational 83 not out himself, laughed regularly at Pant's contempt from the other end of the pitch. Stokes happened to catch this once, but he couldn't say or do much. In fact, no one could. Pant has that effect on everyone.