“Umpire’s Call Again! Woakes Can’t Believe His Luck”
Chris Woakes had a rather eventful Day 1 of the second Test in Birmingham — but not all of it for the right reasons. While the English seamer bowled with control and discipline, he was clearly irked by a couple of umpiring decisions that denied him crucial wickets.
In what turned out to be a day of missed opportunities for England, the most contentious moment came during Woakes’ spell against India’s Yashasvi Jaiswal. The left-hander was struck on the pads by a delivery that looked plumb in real-time. But when England went upstairs, the ball-tracking showed it just clipping the top of the off-stump — umpire’s call, not out.
“Fine margins, big moments” — and England on the wrong side of both.
Woakes had been bowling a nagging line and length, and his efforts were paying off with pressure steadily building. But moments like these, as Woakes admitted later, can change the course of a day. “It’s frustrating, yes. Those decisions either go your way or they don’t. It’s part of the game, and you move on,” he said in the post-day press conference, his tone betraying the disappointment.
Early breakthroughs denied, momentum slips away
England had won the toss and put India in under overcast skies — conditions tailor-made for swing. Woakes was sharp, picking up the wickets of KL Rahul and debutant Nitish Kumar Reddy. However, with Jaiswal surviving early and then going on to score a confident 87, the tone of the day shifted.
Another chance came when Karun Nair, offering no shot, was struck on the pads — but again, the decision went India’s way. That turned out to be another costly miss as Nair contributed a quick 31, further pushing England back.
“310/5 at stumps… advantage India?”
Despite picking wickets at regular intervals — including the dismissals of Pant and Reddy in quick succession — England couldn’t quite stem the Indian momentum. The partnership between Shubman Gill and Ravindra Jadeja proved steadying, with Gill anchoring the innings with a composed century.
Woakes was full of praise for the Indian vice-captain: “He batted brilliantly. Absorbed the pressure, waited for the bad balls. That’s what you want from a top-order player.”
Gill’s ton was laced with 12 classy boundaries and was the perfect foil to Jadeja’s more free-flowing style.
“Day 2… England eye early inroads”
Despite India finishing the day at 310 for 5 in 85 overs, Woakes insisted that the pitch still had something in it for the bowlers. “There’s enough in the surface. We’ve taken wickets in patches. If we get a couple early tomorrow, we’re back in it.”
With the new ball around the corner and clouds expected to hover again, England will be hoping for a sharper start on Day 2. The key? Breaking the Gill-Jadeja partnership before it takes the game too far out of reach