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The second day of the fourth Test started at Old Trafford in Manchester with India's first innings on 264/4 with Ravindra Jadeja and Shardul Thakur in the middle. They had the task of trying to bat deep into the innings and push the score towards the favour of India. However, England captain and all-rounder Ben Stokes grabbed the headlines on the day as he picked up a five-wicket haul, his first in eight years, to play a key role in restricting India to a total of 358 all out. He had a magnificent day with the ball, bowling a total of 24 overs at the economy of three, to dismiss many of the key batters in the Indian batting order.
The right-arm pacer started the proceedings on day one by catching the big fish, none other than Shubman Gill, the Indian captain, who was dismissed early for the second Test in a row after scoring back-to-back centuries in the first two Tests, with a peach of a delivery, trapping him lbw while shouldering arms. Ben Stokes then took the wicket of Sai Sudharsan after he had scored his first Test fifty, tempting him to play a pull shot and getting caught by Brydon Carse in the deep at the fine leg region.
Ben Stokes took three wickets on day two of Manchester Test; including well-set Shardul Thakur
In the first session on day two, Ben Stokes took the wicket of well-set Shardul Thakur, who was trying to build a partnership with Washington Sundar, dismissing him on 41 runs by getting him caught in the cordon. Then, he claimed the wicket of Washington Sundar on 27, getting the latter caught by the pacer Chris Woakes in the same fashion as Sai Sudharsan with a short ball before dismissing debutant Anshul Kamboj for a duck to complete his five-wicket haul.
India are aiming to fight back through their bowling lineup which hasn't quite been at their best after their batting order has found consistency throughout the series. The injury of Rishabh Pant has been a major blow for Team India. With Dhruv Jurel replacing the power-hitter in the fielding role, India will hope for him to deliver his best with the gloves, allowing Rishabh Pant to just focus on batting with a fractured foot in the second innings just like he did in the Indian first innings earlier today.
