Vijay lays down gauntlet, England retreat

M Vijay has an idiosyncratic rhythm to his batting. The closest parallel is Misbah-ul-Haq. They both block, block, block, leave, leave, leave with intense concentration, then suddenly, for no rhyme or reason apparent to outsiders, loft a spinner to find release. This was evident in how Vijay hit four sixes during his hundred in Rajkot, even though his strike rate was under 42. Only two India openers have hit more sixes than M Vijay's 28: Virender Sehwag and Navjot Sidhu. Twenty-seven of Vijay's 28 sixes have been hit off spinners, and mostly to find himself release after intense concentration doing a rare job in Test cricket today, that of a defensive batsman.

Vijay's 27th six, though, was not as out of the blue as most of his other hits over the fence. You could sense there was a plan to what Vijay was doing. This was part of a fascinating spell of play in the Mumbai Test. This was finally a pitch that turned early, and turned fast, a pitch where the odd one with a batsman's name on it was sure to arrive. England recognised that. They were certainly not coy about introducing spin: Moeen Ali came on in the eighth over, Adil Rashid in the ninth. They had 400 on the board, and were now going to test India.

The way KL Rahul and Vijay started against spin, you knew they were going to take early risks to unsettle them. This was the first Test of the series that England were playing with just two spinners. India knew if they could hit even one of them out of his rhythm or out of the attack they would make big strides towards cancelling the disadvantage of losing the toss on this pitch. Vijay charged out at the second ball he faced from Moeen, Rahul went over mid-off to welcome Rashid. Surely these runs shouldn't rattle you when you have 400 in the bank?

They didn't. England and their spinners stuck to their guns. This was a strategy fraught with risk, but India didn't mind it. Even if it meant Rahul was bowled through the gate when driving Moeen against the turn. It didn't stop Vijay from taking uncharacteristic risks against spin.

Two balls after Rahul had been bowled, Vijay tried to hit Rashid over mid-off. The ball was full, but there was a puff of dust, and the miscue barely cleared the fielder running back. This was Rashid's fourth over, and he had settled into a rhythm now. The ball was drifting, and there was turn. He beat Vijay with one that ripped across him in the same over. The pace was right, and the batsman was edgy. This was a high-strung spell of play. A pull here or there, and it could break. On the surface, the batsman had so much more to lose - but did England have enough confidence in their spinners?

Rashid came back for his fifth over with Vijay on 18 off 50. Cheteshwar Pujara had just come in to bat. Vijay again tried to unsettle Rashid. It was clear Vijay was now playing on length. He certainly didn't want to fall to a ball with his name on it. Anything in his driving arc was going to go. The second ball of this over was full. Mid-off was slightly deeper than mid-on. Vijay went. Mishit again. Alastair Cook ran back from mid-on, but was lobbed.

How would Cook react? Would mid-on go back? The mid-on stayed. The temptation was not taken away. Perhaps this was the result of 400 runs on the board. In Rajkot, Rashid had taken Vijay with a wrong'un. Through the series, Vijay and Ajinkya Rahane had been playing the wrong'un off the pitch. Even here, Rashid tried the googly first up, and Vijay again read it off the pitch. With the fourth ball of this over, Rashid tried the wrong'un. This was also full.

This was a big moment. Vijay seemed to have sorted that weakness out or perhaps he just swung hard because it was full and went over mid-on because that fielder was closer. Whatever might have happened, this ball went for a flat six into the sight screen. The gauntlet had been thrown. The leading wicket-taker of the series before the start of this match had just been hit away emphatically, albeit after a few overs of uncertain batting. The tea break was 20 minutes away, Rashid's figures read 5-0-24-0 but six off them were off edges. The last two overs had gone for 12. Vijay had scored 13 off 20 Rashid deliveries, and had possibly started picking the wrong'un.

India were still 345 behind. The pitch had plenty in it. Cook's response was going to be fascinating. There were two options. One, give Rashid more bowling, at least until tea, and see if he can make the progression from mishits to a wicket. The other option was more orthodox, and more Cook-like: ask the quicks to hold one end up in four-over spells, and attack with spin from the other end.

Cook did what Cook does. As a spectator you felt cheated at being denied an extended contest between a spinner who had just started to find himself and an opening batsman coming back from a mid-series slump. Most of cricket, though, is played not for spectators but to win. Cook felt this was the way to victory. He is fixated with control, and he possibly felt Rashid - 5-0-24-0, remember? - could lose him that control. Off went Rashid and for close to two hours after that England operated with pace at one end.

By the end of the day, England had endured the first wicketless session in a Test being played on a turner. England are not yet out it - they are still 254 ahead and there can be collapses on this pitch - but you could see from Parthiv Patel's interview at the end of the day that India were now feeling confident. Rashid never found that rhythm again, especially with a change of ends. Jos Buttler said they didn't look back at that bowling change with regret, and that they backed the captain's decision. If England squander this golden opportunity to make a comeback into the series, they will possibly look at those 20 minutes before tea differently.