Missed opportunities and poor bowling made it simple for KL Rahul to guide his side to a lead of 175 with a composed 86
This is the first time since 1973 that India’s Republic Day has fallen during an England Test. As in 2024, the 1973 match started the previous day, but unlike this year it was paused to allow the citizens of Kanpur to celebrate without distraction. “Republic Day failed to bring any joy to England’s players,” the Guardian reported 51 years ago. “Most of them sat in their hotel and listened to the sounds of merrymaking on the streets outside.” This one didn’t bring England much joy either, the main difference being that their players were less hiding from the sounds of merrymaking than causing them.
It is not a holiday that is generally marked by the exchanging of gifts though that is what happened in Hyderabad, with England by a margin the more generous. A poor delivery dispatched to the boundary, a poor shot bringing a wicket, an opportunity to take another missed and several dot balls in between: the first over pretty much told the story of the day. The last told a tale of the two sides’ shifted moods, ending as it did with the final three deliveries, from Tom Hartley, being hit for four, six and four by Axar Patel, and with India’s lead at precisely 175.