WATCH: Shubman Gill sticks to his plan after six, sets up perfect trap for Jamie Smith
New Delhi: The persistence of India with their short-ball strategy was tremendously rewarded at Headingley when Jamie Smith was sent on his way, after a score of 40 with only two balls to go, after he had hit a huge six off the previous delivery. That is the critical wicket that Prasidh Krishna prepared and ended with a sharp relay catch by Ravindra Jadeja and Sai Sudharsan, and it was a very well-calculated plan that India had to stick with, even after being conceded a big six a few moments ago.
It was a key wicket that disrupted the rising tide of England with the second new ball also looming behind.
Smith had previously tucked into the short ball with swagger, during the same over, rocking back to pull Prasidh Krishna over deep square leg to complete a six. Nevertheless, even after such a mighty blow Shubman Gill who was actively involved in applying setting the field remained calm and did not dare deviate from a plan.
India maintained their leg-side trap intact where Jadeja was at deep mid-wicket and Sai Sudharsan was at deep backward square. The message was clear enough, they believed in their own plan and believed their bowlers are capable of it.
Two balls later the scheme succeeded perfectly. Prasidh delivered another short delivery when Smith drove the ball again in another pull shot. However, he did not manage to middle this one again- the cricket ball landed high but did not have sufficient distance to pass the boundary. Known as the rope, Jadeja was at the place to take the catch but judging he would cross the boundary, he cleverly tossed the ball to Sai Sudharsan who was already marking the field as a backup to effect the dismissal.
The youngster took the catch nonchalantly, and the Indian spectators roared and shook with applause, and the loudest murmurs emanated in the commentary box.
This gave Prasidh his second wicket of the innings as he delivered the much-needed performance as compared to Day 2 where he had no wicket. Later in the morning, he cast aside Ollie Pope (160) after Mohammed Siraj took his first wicket of the innings picking up England skipper Ben Stokes (20). India had made an impressive total of 471 in the first innings driven by centuries of Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill and Rishabh Pant.
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