by There is nothing quite like the comeback against the odds, no sporting feat so strong. Of course it helps – indeed, it is essential – that they are so unusual. It is their lack, hard work, inspiration and the liberal seasoning of good fortune that we know it takes to accomplish them, that makes them taste so sweet. But around the world and across the pitch in Hyderabad, as shadows grew and the chances of a victory in England shortened, Test cricket was suddenly crowded with them.
Related: Veteran Tom Hartley joins India as England claim a shock victory in the first Test
England was one of the great comebacks in the history of the format, and also perhaps the second best of a day when cricket’s two best juggernauts simultaneously declined. England began to slide through India just as the West Indies were completing their stunning demolition of Australia in Brisbane, and the sport became one of soft jaws, spinning heads and breathless tweets. In Hyderabad the drama did not fail as the English, trailing by 190 after being very classy in the first innings, – with uncertain grip, sweaty palms and palpable tremors – took control of the game.
They were finally carried to victory by Tom Hartley, a young seven-goal bomber who made his Test debut. It was a rare feat for him – he became only the second bowler this century to take more than six wickets in the second over of their first match, and the first to do so for a winning cause – but it may have been about the shadow of Shamar Joseph, the worthy. a younger Guyanese fast bowler making his second Test appearance who took seven wickets as Australia were dismantled at the Gabba.
It was one day in which there was the most glorious long-distance one-upmanship and in this regard, especially, there are a few people who might know how Hartley feels. It had been almost 30 years since a bowler had taken more than six wickets in the last innings to win a Test on debut but the last time it happened it happened twice, Pakistan’s Mohammad Zahid taking seven against New Zealand and Lance Klusener of South Africa to beat India. , both on 1 December 1996.
It was the 106th time India had led their opponents by 100 runs or more after the opening innings of a home Test and the first of the matches they lost, a testament to the ability of Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes to inspire in the reach this side. unimaginable. But if anything Tom Hartley’s comeback was more impressive than his team.
On Thursday India scored a six off his first ball, another off his fifth ball, and was almost written off as a Test bowler within his first hour in the role. But three days after launching 63 in his first nine innings without taking a wicket he conceded 62 in 26.2 and took seven, dismissing four of India’s top five, coming back to polish the tail and transform himself in space four glorious times from liability. to legend.
Hartley shows little emotion on the pitch, not an unhelpful trait given the way his game has gone, and even after playing a central role in this historic win he stepped forward to be interviewed on the television after that seemed as dour as Murali Kartik’s first request. to him “please, flash your smile”.
This must also have been a terrifying and devastating experience: Hartley was involved in almost every play of the day, and began sharing an 80-wicket stand with Ollie Pope. From these he scored a crucial 34 runs, without showing, studying the pitch for useful cues. He finally bowled to Ravichandran Ashwin’s delivery which kept low; a few hours later Ashwin was stumped after one of his own did the same, but of a different kind to come back in a full day.
Elsewhere, Ollie Pope, playing for the first time after six months out with a dislocated shoulder, recounted the guts of his life, a six-hour, two-day epic – “I think I was lucky,” said six later – and then, instead of spending time cooling down with his feet up, he strapped his helmet back on and took two brilliant short catches in three balls to send England on their way.
Ben Stokes, less than two months after knee surgery, produced a remarkable if not entirely atypical piece of athleticism and invention in the field to eliminate Ravindra Jadeja. Jack Leach, in his first game after nearly eight months recovering from a stress fracture in his back and ending the second day with his left leg heavily bandaged to combat a “serious” knee injury, did not he not only took the field but took 10 wickets and got the wicket of Shreyas Iyer, India’s last specialist batsman.
Asked at the end of the match about life in this England side, Hartley said: “There’s never a dull moment, that’s the Stokes way.” He might hardly know this team, and the content in this format, but he seems to have got the hang of it.
