seventh until the late chaos lifted him to second. It was hi

The Rajkot Test was filled with tough lessons for India. But a draw was secured, and the team moves on to Visakhapatnam, its picture postcard beaches and possibly turning pitches.At the most recent international match played at the venue, Amit Mishra picked up five wickets and New Zealand were bowled out for 79 after having been 63 for 2. Before the start of that ODI, the host broadcasters pitch report suggested it would be a belter. Fifty or so overs in, it was turning from one corner to the other.Indias bowlers may not mind a similar setting come Thursday. They tend to work better when theres something in it for them, much the way children are far more inclined to do their chores when they get extra dessert at dinner. Work needs incentive and, often, it is in the form of chocolate cake.They werent too bad in Rajkot. In fact, Umesh Yadav and Mohammed Shami were able to find reverse swing when it looked like none of Englands bowlers could. They created chances with the new ball on the first day but were let down by their fielders. R Ashwin, often the big brother pulling this bowling attack out of trouble, crafted two fine wickets to redress the dropped catches but from there on; from the second session of the Test, India slowly lost their way.It raised a familiar question. Can Indias bowlers be effective on a good pitch?Its a difficult proposition because the window of opportunity you have is quite small. Say the first half hour when you can expect some sideways movement. Making the batsman play as much as possible in this period is vital. So too is attacking each ones weaknesses. For example, India rarely tried to bounce Moeen Ali when they themselves had success with the ploy before. England were very keen to test Cheteshwar Pujara with the short ball.The other thing when dealing with stubborn pitches is having a clear plan and sticking to it. When the batsman knows there is no seam or swing or spin, when he can trust the pace and bounce, it is only the bowlers discipline that creates doubt: keeping the ball outside off stump if he is susceptible to nicking off, getting closer if he tends to get bowled or lbw. Be boring. Be repetitive. Play on his ego. Induce the mistake. Savour the triumph.India were lacking in this regard. At times, it seemed like they didnt have an idea of what they wanted to do. They were hoping for wickets rather than pushing for them. They were hoping to keep the runs down rather than devising ways to find wickets. They had an in-out field on the second morning in Rajkot. Yet, they conceded 21 boundaries in a single session. This spell of play forced India so far back in the match that it required their five batsmen to bat at their peak not once but twice to save it. Could they have done so had they conceded 537 runs in the first innings away from home? Losing the toss was a mitigating factor, a sizeable one. It meant India had to bowl when the pitch was at its most docile. England too conceded a total of 488. But they made the batsmen take a lot longer to get there. Chris Woakes took the pitch out of the equation with his pace. Stuart Broad was skillful enough to repeatedly hit a crack, which ran length-wise down the pitch, to see if it could give him some natural variation.There are ways to overcome a stubborn pitch. The margin of error is small and it often takes an exceptional effort to succeed but there are ways.Harking back to the Eden Gardens where India clinched the No. 1 Test ranking, Virat Kohli was noticeably chipper. He had won the Test mace a year into full-time captaincy, he had another series victory on his record and the signs pointed to dominance over the entire home season in 2016-17. But the reasons for his happiness were none of those things. The batsmen did well on a seamer-friendly surface. The fast bowlers outdid New Zealands, who were arguably more used to such conditions. Kohli had seen his team stand up to adversity. He wouldnt want that to be a one shot. Mike Brosseau Rays Jersey .com) - Christian Ponder will get another chance to prove himself for the Minnesota Vikings, with head coach Leslie Frazier announcing Wednesday that the struggling quarterback will start this weekends game against the Green Bay Packers. Cole Sulser Rays Jersey . That left plenty of energy for pitching books and swatting away free agency questions. Anthony had 24 points and nine rebounds, and the Knicks avenged an embarrassing home loss with a rout of their own, beating the Boston Celtics 114-88 on Wednesday night for their third straight victory. https://www.cheapraysonline.com/1366i-austin-pruitt-jersey-rays.html .com) - Richie Incognito has reportedly been admitted to a psychiatric care unit in Arizona. Joey Wendle Jersey . -- Nate Robinson has played for seven teams, so beating one of them is no longer a rare occurrence. Charlie Morton Jersey . The Celtics closed out their first preseason under Stevens on Wednesday night with a 101-97 victory over the Brooklyn Nets, who rested a lot of their lineup including former Celtics Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce. BRISTOL, Tenn. -- Austin Dillon figured fourth place was about all he could get Friday night until the old Brad Keselowski-Kyle Busch rivalry reared up at Bristol Motor Speedway.Keselowski hit the back of Buschs car as the defending Sprint Cup champ tried to clear him from the lead, cutting down a tire and sending Busch into the wall four laps from the scheduled end. Then just as suddenly Keselowski ran out of gas during the caution -- leaving a happily surprised Dillon out front to win the Xfinity race in overtime Friday night.I was actually just enjoying what was going on (up front) trying to get there, Dillon said about the chaos.For the last 50 laps, the race looked like a classic faceoff between Busch and Keselowski who no one would consider friends.While Keselowskis tactic to many diehards was just a traditional Bristol bump-and-run, its sure to stir up a Busch-Keselowski tussle thats frequently goes from zero-to-60 in seconds.Keselowski described Busch as another name for a donkey during driver intros at Bristol in 2010. Keselowski detailed their rocky relationship on and off track in a blog last year.The two get a chance to tangle once more here Saturday night in the Sprint Cup event.We were battling really hard and definitely didnt want to see it end that way, Keselowski said.Hes a dirty racer, Busch responded when asked by ESPN.Dillon didnt care about the circumstances only that he was broke cleanly in the green-white-checkered finish to beat Justin Algaier in second and Kyle Larson in third.Even when they were pushing us, we had to remain calm, said Dillons crew chief, Justin Alexander. Things unfold and youre sitting there pretty much where you need to be.Larson had led for 200 of 308 laps, but was overtaken the Keselowski and Busch.Dillons younger brother, Ty Dillon, made it a three-car race as he mixed it up between the two Sprint Cup champs. In fact, it was Ty Dilllon, who emerged on top when that trio raced three-wide on Bristols slippery, tight track.dddddddddddd. But Dillon couldnt sustain his edge and his chances ended for good when he hit the back of Buschs slowed machine.Dillon thought the Keselowski-Busch dustup might increase the walk-up sales for Saturday nights next round. We should sell some tickets tomorrow night, he said.All the fussin and fuedin up front was just fine with Dillon, who won his eighth career Xfinity victory and first at Bristol.It was just a war of attrition and we had a pretty good car, Dillon said. Maybe not the fastest car, but the car that won.WHOS HOT: Justin Algaier figured on finishing seventh until the late chaos lifted him to second. It was his fifth top-10 finish in his past six Xfinity races at Bristol.WHOS NOT: Daniel Suarez, who had a strong run at Bristol Motor Speedway ruined for the second time in three days. Suarez led 77 laps in the truck series here Wednesday night when a late crash doomed him to 29th. He led Xfinity practice Thursday and was bidding for a top-10 finish when another accident knocked him back.THEY SAID IT: Ive never seen the fans get that involved in something like that that really wasnt a major deal, nobody wrecked each other in a caution or something like that. But fans were definitely getting excited, runner-up Justin Algaier said of the Busch-Keselowski tangle.THE BIG ONE: Teammates Erik Jones and Daniel Suarez clipped each other on lap 245, causing significant damage to the two Joe Gibbs Racing entrants. Jones, the pole sitter, was running ninth at the time. The crash collected four other cars. Jones had won the Xfinity race here this past April.UP NEXT: Road America, Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, Aug. 27. Paul Menard is the defending race winner. ' ' '