Farokh Engineer: I Doubt India Will Avoid The Follow-On...But Will England Enforce It?

James Anderson celebrates the wicket of Ravindra Jadeja
This picture sums up the day for me: James Anderson and England were magnificent, India played some stupid shots
©REUTERS / Action Images

After another day in which England were on top, closing 246 runs ahead, I think for India, it's those 46 runs that are more important than anything else, as they have to avoid the follow-on.

I doubt very much if they can do that because England have been bowling magnificently and the ball is still relatively new.

But would England even enforce the follow-on? They might choose to bat for half a day and put India in, asking them to score something beyond their reach instead.

I imagine that if England had have bowled India out today, they may have given their bowlers a bit of a rest, scored their runs very quickly, maybe another 100 or 200 or so, and then put India in.

India have still got two wickets remaining so they have the choice of which roller to use tomorrow morning. They won't be using the heavy roller because they don't want the wicket to be broken up.

A lot of India's batsmen got themselves in and then got themselves out, some of them playing stupid shots.

What was Ravindra Jadeja doing, charging down the track and trying to hit the ball out of the ground when India are trying to avoid the follow-on?

Although, that seems to be the way they play the game these days.

This morning, I said India's first target would be to bat through the day and they only just got there. They have to do a lot more tomorrow.

These last 46 runs to avoid the follow-on are going to be an uphill task even though MS Dhoni is at the wicket.


© Cricket World 2014

Fixtures & Results

9th-13th July: 1st Test, Trent Bridge, Nottingham
England 496 (Root 154no, Anderson 81)
17th-21st July: 2nd Test, Lord's, London
India 295 & 342 (Vijay 95, Jadeja 68) beat
England 367 (Root 77, Buttler 70) beat
India 152 & 166 by an innings & 54 runs
England 486 (Root 149no, Cook 79) beat
India 148 & 94 by an innings & 244 runs
25th August: 1st ODI, Bristol
Match abandoned without a ball being bowled due to rain
27th August: 2nd ODI, SWALEC Stadium, Cardiff
30th August: 3rd ODI, Trent Bridge, Nottingham
India 228-4 (Rayudu 64no) beat
England 227 (Cook 44) by six wickets
2nd September: 4th ODI, Edgbaston, Birmingham
India 212-1 (Rahane 106, Dhawan 97no) beat
England 206 (Moeen Ali 67) by nine wickets
5th September: 5th ODI, Headingley, Leeds
England 294-7 (Root 113, Buttler 49) beat
India 253 (Jadeja 87) by 41 runs
7th September: T20I, Edgbaston, Birmingham
England 180-7 (Morgan 71, Hales 40)
India 177-5 (Kohli 66) by three runs