England were left frustrated on Day 2 of the 5th Test at the Oval as Yashasvi Jaiswal (51 batting off 49) rode his luck as he received not one but two life lines during his extravagant innings.
Jaiswal had got going with three fours in Atkinson's opening over including a sublime straight drive before being given a chance on 20 (dropped by Harry Brook at second slip) and on 40 (at long leg by Liam Dawson). He brought up his third fifty of the series with a ramp off Jamie Overton that went all the way.
Close to stumps, a third catch was dropped when Zak Crawley grassed a regulation chance offered by Sudharsan at third slip.
India finished the second day with a lead of 52 and eight second-innings wickets in hand on a lively pitch.
England's batting coach Marcus Trescothick said the hosts were left "frustrated" and "disappointed" after dropping three catches as the Test threatened to slip away from their grasp.
"You're always frustrated when you miss opportunities," Trescothick said at the press conference after play on Day 2.
"Of course, we pride ourselves on being very good in those sorts of areas, but it just didn't happen. We all know how important they are and we all know how tough catches can be, especially in the slips, so we are disappointed, but it is what it is."
England looked weary in the field on Friday evening after batting for just 51.2 overs in their first innings but Trescothick refused to blame their drops on physical and mental fatigue.
"I don't think that'll be anything to do with it. It just happens over the course of some days and some games. It's just the game, as we see it," Trescothick added.
Ahead of the start of Day 2 of the fifth and final Test of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy 2025, England suffered a significant blow as their ace right-arm seamer Chris Woakes was ruled out of the Test match after suffering a shoulder injury.
And on debates on injury replacements, Trescothick said 'we tinker with the game too much already.'
"Test matches are Test matches, and I think you don't need to adjust too much. I like to think we're producing some good cricket around the world in every Test-playing nation. I don't think we should try and mess with it too much. The rules have been in place for many, many years. And they've done just fine in the past, so I wouldn't be changing anything at the moment," he added.
Trescothick believes the match is evenly poised.
“There was lots of positive cricket. We put them under pressure but they fought back pretty well and it sets it up nicely for tomorrow,” he said.
"It's pretty evenly poised, I guess at the moment, plenty of wickets in the course of today, but the game is moving forward pretty quickly, and who knows what tomorrow will bring. I think you'll see the pitch probably continuing to be lively and more seam movement as the day goes on," he said.
"We want pace on the ball, we want the ball to bounce and we want the ball to carry through so that when we're batting, we can be aggressive, we can attack, and we can put pressure back on the bowlers; and when we're bowling, if we get opportunities and we catch the edge, hopefully it will carry through… We're very happy with how (the pitch) has performed so far."
Of England’s scintillating opening stand he added: “We’re that sort of side when pitches are like this -- we want to put pressure back on the bowlers, using your feet, not playing conventional cricket. Success comes from being inventive, brave. It worked well but then we lost a couple of wickets.”
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