Wood's work gives England hope

To be fair to Ravindra Jadeja, you could see why he thought a single was on.

It was about 18 minutes to the close. England were weary after being slow-cooked in Rajkot's dry, 34-degree Celsius heat. Debutant Sarfaraz Khan had come in and turned up the dials to char them to a crisp. And with Ben Stokes marking his 100th Test cap with rogue fields of catchers close enough to kiss, pushing one beyond them to move to a century was easy work. That's certainly what Jadeja was thinking in his first three steps to the other end before coming to an abrupt halt.

From the depths of the circle emerged Mark Wood, wearing the toil of his 17 overs like 17 jabs from Mike Tyson, whites looking like he was dragged up the Rajkot Highway, drenched in sweat. Yet he swooped, gathered and threw, with such calm and composure, taking out the one stump in view at the non-striker's end. It probably happened in slow motion for Jadeja, and even slower for Sarfaraz - but it was milliseconds for everyone else. In an instant bit of brilliance, India's next golden boy, was barbecued for 62, and a potentially match-altering fifth-wicket stand was capped at the knees on 77.

Here was a perfectly packaged summation of England's first day of this third Test in Rajkot. Just as it looked like India were pulling away, Wood, who had already given so much, gave some more. His 3 for 69, bowling the most he has in a single day of Test cricket in over two years, is the reason England were not dismayed after losing the toss. His direct hit is the reason they can look at India's score of 326 for 5 at stumps and feel a sense of satisfaction.

Two weeks ago, Wood lamented looking second-rate next to the genius of Jasprit Bumrah. But his impact here is close to what the No.1 ranked bowler gives to his team. Without the Durham quick's skill and heart, India might already be out of sight.

Stokes might not have called the coin correctly, but his selection of Wood over off-spinner Shoaib Bashir was vindicated within 11 balls from the Pavilion End. A hard length, with a bit of bounce and enough movement away from left-hander Yashasvi Jaiswal drew an edge through to Joe Root at first slip.

Shubman Gill was next for a nine-ball duck; forced into playing a delivery that arrowed into him before decking away off the pitch. Just like that, Wood, who had gone wicketless for 25 overs as the lone seamer in Hyderabad, had pocketed the double centurion and second-innings centurion from Vishakapatnam.

Both dismissals could be regarded as bonuses. Before today, only David Warner at Trent Bridge in 2015 and Marnus Labuschagne at Sydney in 2022 were Wood's previous wickets in the first six overs of an innings.

That he opened the bowling with James Anderson was more out of circumstance than design. The reasons for his inclusion here were why he was selected ahead of Anderson in the first Test - his pace and ability to reverse swing the ball late had him as a point of difference. Essentially, he is at his most valuable when the ball is old and the pitch is unresponsive. Ergo - the most unrewarding time to bowl.

Not that you can ever really tell from Wood's body language. When you have had the injuries he has had to overcome, limiting him to just 33 Tests in nine years, a day in the field is not taken for granted.

His first six-over burst was predominantly full deliveries, save for a few short, including one that reared up and clocked Rohit Sharma in the face. A mix of short stuff in the next stint of three followed, along with a patented wide jump into a delivery that whistled past Rohit's edge on 77. The third and fourth spells were almost exclusively bumpers, all delivered with enthusiasm belying the graft required to get a softer ball up at a batter's throat.

Even early in that fourth spell, when one sat up for Jadeja to thump through mid on for four, Wood did not relent. Three deliveries into his next over, Rohit, 131 to his name, clothed a pull to Stokes, the middle fielder of three stationed at midwicket for the spooned top-edge.

That it broke a stand of 204 between Sharma and Jadeja speaks to the lack of cutting edge or control when the seamers were out of circulation. That's not unexpected given the lack of experience in the spin department, particularly on a first-day pitch. But for the first time on this tour, it felt like Tom Hartley, Rehan Ahmed and even Root were exposed.

Had Root taken a low chance off Rohit when on 27, and England taken reviews when he was on 87 and Jadeja on 93 to overturn lbw appeals, the trio would have more to show than Rajat Patidar's brain fade against Hartley. But India realised they could just focus on surviving Wood and Anderson and pilfer the rest. Root was particularly expensive, going at 5.23 an over, failing to use his off-breaks to keep the hosts in check or challenge Jadeja's outside edge.

As well as Sarfaraz batted, his innings was a microcosm of England's conundrum. After facing five balls from Wood in his first six, he had 52 by the time he next faced a seamer. And though he played Anderson well, with a gorgeous late cut for four, he ducked and weaved when reacquainted with Wood (on 61) to play out a maiden.

Unfortunately for Sarfaraz, Wood still found him lacking in the field. And as Kuldeep Yadav emerged as a night watchman, England were at least able to finish as they started - with a hold on proceedings.

They will have to dig deep and go again on Friday, hoping for similar moisture in the air that greeted them on Thursday morning. Stokes' decision to take the second new ball two overs before the close means it will be ripe for yet more early hijinks. And having proved more incisive in these conditions than one of England's greatest in Anderson, there is even greater importance on Wood backing up one big day with another.