Jack Leach: It was the best I've felt this year

Leach proved he is a more than handy first-innings weapon in the right conditions as he extracted turn and bounce from the Chepauk strip

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Of all England’s cricketers, Jack Leach can be most easily forgiven for taking a little while to find his rhythm after the events of the past 18 months.

After contracting sepsis in New Zealand which left him fighting for his life in late 2019, Leach spent the entire bubbled summer of 2021 as an unused substitute for his country. 

With barely a competitive over under his belt, he flew to Sri Lanka in January a little rusty. But five weeks later - after the first day of the second Test against India - the Somerset left-arm spinner thinks he is starting to find his groove.

“It’s definitely the best rhythm I’ve had out there since we’ve been playing in these three games,” Leach said after taking 2 for 78 on day one in Chennai as India racked up 300 for 6 on a scraggy surface having won the toss. 

“This is definitely the best I’ve felt and it’s all based around being patient and letting the pitch do what it’s been doing.”

Leach, whose influence as a fourth-innings “closer” was the topic of discussion in the build-up to this game, proved he is a more than handy first-innings weapon in the right conditions as he extracted turn and bounce from the Chepauk strip almost immediately.

He claimed the key wickets of Cheteshwar Pujara and Rohit Sharma, and should have had Ajinkya Rahane but for TV umpire Anil Chaudhary failing to give India’s vice-captain out caught at short leg, despite broadcast footage showing the ball had hit his glove on its way to Ollie Pope at short leg.

Though his economy rate for the day was impacted by a late tussle with Rishabh Pant, Leach had been effective in retaining some level of control over an innings dominated by Rohit Sharma’s sensational 161.

“He played a serious knock,” Leach said of Rohit’s effort. 

“He’s obviously a world-class player. I didn’t enjoy it but he obviously batted well.

“It was a hard-fought day. We had to be quite patient and we got a couple of wickets towards the end, which is good. With a new ball tomorrow morning hopefully we can get a couple more quickly.

“As you saw with Sharma and Rahane, once you get a partnership going with that older ball it can get a little bit easier. We have to believe we can do the same when we come to bat.”

Leach has backed England to produce another fine first-innings performance with the bat, following scores of 344, 421 and 578 in their three matches in Asia so far this year.

Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav will present a major test to Joe Root’s side on a pitch which is dry and taking spin, but Leach is confident in his teammates.

“We’ve shown over the last three games that we’ve been able to adapt quite well. Even in Sri Lanka we were playing on spinning wickets and the lads have adapted really well to different surfaces. I have full belief we can do that here too.”

Saturday was Leach’s introduction to an Indian cricket crowd, with around 9,000 fans in attendance after Covid-19 restrictions were relaxed a little in Chennai, and it was an experience he will not forget in a hurry.

“It was very special to have fans back. It’s been a hole for both teams and that was really good,” he said.

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