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At least Test cricket has started a pandemic blighted 2021 in the rudest of health. This was a day in Chennai when the grand old game gave us just about everything it can muster.
There was an opening burst of fast bowling from Jofra Archer of the highest class.
There was stunning catching from Jimmy Anderson and, who else, but the captain who can do no wrong in Joe Root. And there was the best spin bowling of Dom Bess’s career.
Dom Bess and Joe Root celebrate after taking the wicket of Cheteshwar Pujara for 73
Pujara and Rishbah Pant led India’s fightback after they had been reduced to 73 for four
Pant launched a blistering counter-attack before he was caught out nine runs short of a ton
Bess celebrates after claiming the crucial wicket of Indian captain Virat Kohli
Then, when India were in dire trouble on the third day of this opening Test against England’s underdogs, there was a thrilling yet almost reckless counter-attack from the hero of their historic win against Australia at the Gabba in Rishabh Pant.
And all on the day when West Indies pulled off what must surely be one of the greatest wins in even their distinguished history when a debutant called Kyle Mayers made a double century against Bangladesh in a successful run chase of 395 for seven.
Remember the name. And remember the day when Root’s England provided the best example yet of the rapid Test improvement that will ensure, at the very least, they will give the best team in the world a run for their money in their own conditions.
Central to it was the performance of a 23-year-old off-spinner in Bess who could easily have been left out of this Test had England gone for the greater experience of Moeen Ali, fit-again after Covid kept him out of the 2-0 win in Sri Lanka.
Bess took 12 wickets in those two Tests but left Sri Lanka still a work in progress at the highest level and with questions about how he would cope against India’s expert players of spin and compared to his opposite number in Chennai’s own Ravi Ashwin.
Bess is congratulated by England skipper Joe Root after India lost their third wicket
Kohli makes his way back to the dressing room as India struggle in response to England’s 578
Jofra Archer removed both Indian openers with the new ball to give England the perfect start
The answer was a performance of real character that earned Bess four wickets on the third day as India were reduced to 73 for four in reply to England’s massive 578 before the contrasting skills of Pant and Cheteshwar Pujara took them to 257 for six by the close.
There were elements of good fortune again for Bess, not least when Ajinkya Rahane hit a full toss to the diving Root and when Pujara, bizarrely, pulled a long hop that ricocheted off Ollie Pope’s shoulder at short-leg to Rory Burns at mid-wicket.
But there was also the prize wicket of Virat Kohli, pushing too hard at one with extra bounce and guiding the ball to Pope, and what became the crucial scalp of Pant chancing his arm once too often and holing out to Jack Leach at extra cover.
It was a bitter-sweet moment for Leach for it was the slow left-armer who was the victim of a calculated assault by Pant that saw him replicate the hitting that made his name in the white-ball game to smash five sixes.
In truth Leach did not bowl too badly and could easily have seen Pant caught by Dan Lawrence or Archer on the boundary as two sixes just eluded their reach. But fortune favoured the brave Indian keeper when his side needed him most.
Pant’s pyrotechnics left Leach going at almost 10 runs an over for his first nine overs and he dominated a stand of 119 with the adhesive Pujara that just about kept India in the game, Pant’s 91 coming off just 88 balls. His battle with England’s spinners in this series is going to be a fascinating and entertaining one.
But he did not do enough to spoil a superb day for England. They batted on in their first innings into the third day of a Test for the first time in 20 years, adding 23 more for the last two wickets in 40 minutes with their game-plan of trying to bat India into the ground.
Archer’s double strike more than compensated for the steady flow of runs by India’s openers
Archer (left) celebrates with his England team-mates after taking the wicket of Shubman Gill
Then all eyes were on Archer, replacing Mark Wood here as England’s bowler of real pace but given the new ball and asked to operate in short fiery bursts. It is absolutely the way he should be used in Test cricket and it paid immediate dividends for England.
It was something of a worry to hear Archer talking in such weary and wary fashion about the busy year ahead of him and life in bio-secure bubbles in general before this series because he is such a crucial figure in all forms of cricket.
And it was certainly a contrast to the attitude of his captain who bubbled with enthusiasm when asked the same question during the mountain of extra media work he undertook engagingly ahead of his 100thTest.
But there was nothing weary about the way Archer bowled here, finding pace, bounce and swing where others in this Test could produce little to have Rohit Sharma caught behind by Jos Buttler and Shubman Gill athletically snaffled by the 38-year-old Anderson diving forward at mid-on.
That was by far the best contribution from Anderson, who struggled to find the right line after being preferred here to his old strike partner in Stuart Broad. But he can be excused a rare quiet day in the glorious autumn of his career.
Bess lost a little control again as the day progressed and Washington Sundar ushered India through to the close in company with Ashwin even though Archer misjudged a difficult chance running back off the luckless Leach when Sundar was on 25.
But India were still a daunting 321 behind at the close with England needing to take the remaining four wickets as quickly as they can this morning if they are going to have enough time to bat again and still leave themselves four sessions to bowl the hosts out.
Whatever, it has been a mightily impressive start to this toughest of assignments for England. And Test cricket continues to delight in the Covid created gloom.
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