ENG vs IND: Moeen Ali believes Cheteshwar Pujara's wicket was massive; lauds Mark Wood

England spinner Moeen Ali has said the wicket of Indian batsman Cheteshwar Pujara on Day 4 of the second Test match was "massive", and that his teammate Mark Wood fully deserved it. Moeen, while speaking to the press after the conclusion of play on Day 5, said he was very pleased to see Wood take those wickets, adding "the way he bowled was fantastic". Wood provided England with an early breakthrough as he removed an in-form KL Rahul for just 5 runs. The pacer followed that up by picking Rohit Sharma's wicket in his next over. Wood also dismissed Cheteshwar Pujara at a time when a partnership between the Indian batter and his vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane was flourishing. 

"I was very pleased for him (Mark Wood). He was telling me in the first innings that he doesn't get the wickets he would like, and I said these things can happen and they will come. The way he bowled was fantastic and it was a great catch by me at deep square leg! He fully deserved his wickets and the wicket of Pujara was massive. The way he ran in and banged the wicket with a soft ball on a dead wicket. I thought he was fantastic," Moeen said at the post-day press conference. 

"It's a fantastic Test match. It's great for me personally to come back and to be part of it, and hopefully tomorrow morning we can bowl them out and chase the runs down. They have got Pant, but we have got Jimmy (Anderson). The chat in the afternoon was just to hang in there, basically. Don't try and search too much, just stay in there and something will happen. They came back strong and played really well, but I thought we still managed to contain them really well. We knew if we could get one out we could go bang-bang," Moeen added. 

Rohit Sharma was set up by Wood to play a hook shot, which the Indian batsman attempted but failed to clear the ropes and was caught out by Moeen Ali at deep square leg. Wood then bowled a length delivery, which deflected off Pujara's bat and went into the safe hands of Joe Root at the slip. Wood was looking in great touch until he was taken off the field owing to a shoulder injury, which he suffered while fielding in the deep. 

India vs England 2nd Test

On Day 4, India was in deep trouble after losing in-form openers KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma in the space of two overs. Virat Kohli, India's captain, left with only 20 runs on the board. Cheteshwar Piujara and Ajinkya Rahane, who have both been chastised for their poor batsmanship for a long time, put on a critical century partnership to take India from 55/3 to 155. However, Mark Wood struck again and dismissed Cheteshwar Pujara for 45 runs. Minutes later, Moeen Ali removed Ajinkya Rahane and Ravindra Jadeja to help England finish the day on top. India resumed batting on Day 5 at 181/6. 

Image: AP