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Resemblances with the Chennai Test
12.30pm
AM has turned to PM but it is still raining in Nottingham. Even though today is not likely to be a washout, there are many similarities here with the Chennai Test of 2004-05. The side batting first bowled out cheaply. A healthy lead -141 in that case – conceded. But an improved performance in the third innings to not only make India bat again but set them 229. India were not certain of their opening combination a day before the match and went with Yuvraj Singh. During that match, Shane Warne went past Muthiah Muralidaran. During this match, Anderson went past Kumble. The day four then ended with a crisp boundary from Sehwag last ball. Yesterday Pujara crunched the last ball for four. It rained all day next day.
It is also an often spoken-about Test in Cricinfo because so many of future Cricinfo employees were there. I was finishing college. Anand Vasu, Siddhartha Vaidyanathan, Sriram Veera, Dileep Premachandran, George Binoy, Nitin Sundar, Siddarth Ravindran, Karthik Krishnaswamy, Gaurav Sundararaman were all there. Of course none of us knew each other then. Only two of them were working on the match. The funny thing is, every time we talk about that day in office, some new person pops up saying, “Hey I was there too.”
Damn. This just made me realise that’s one of the things I miss because of these Covid days.
Who is happier with the rain?
11.45am
What else can we do but pontificate as it continues to rain? Whom does the rain suit more? I think as of now it suits England more because we have seen rain and overcast skies have conditions worse for the batters. But if it gets into the category where India don’t have to worry about a defeat and can still get a shot at the target, that scenario will worry England because this is a quick-scoring ground and India have Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja who can be promoted to bat in a nothing-to-lose scenario.
An on-and-off scenario can go either way. You could get two 20-minute sessions in which the batters don’t get any rhythm and two of them get out or you could get two 20-minute sessions in which bowlers don’t get into any rhythm and build-ups for a wicket and India score 35 runs. A lot of possibilities. Don’t go anywhere.
Wet start
10.45am
Dampener for all those who couldn’t sleep last night with anticipation. It is raining, and the forecast is iffy. I am optimistic we can get enough cricket for a result. Fingers crossed. But as of now it is raining. Stay tuned for updates.
Sidharth Monga is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo