Yashasvi Jaiswal made England spinners dance to his tune and put India in the driver’s seat on the first day of the first Test being played here at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium. At the end of stumps on Day 1, India were 119/1 and trailed England by 127 runs with Shubman Gill and Jaiwswal unbeaten on scores of 76* and 14* respectively. England were bundled out for 246 with Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja exerting pressure on the visitors.
Jaiswal made England get a taste of their ‘Bazball’ style of play, scoring runs at a brisk pace and putting the pressure back on the visitors. He came down the ground and smashed Rehan Ahmed for a six which summed up the kind of day he had with the bat. India got off to a flying start with Jaiswal taking on debutant spinner Tom Hartley, scoring two maximums and pushing India’s score to 19/0 after the end of the second over.
While Jaiwasl continued to dominate Hartley, Rohit too joined the party and with a single brought up 50 for India off just 39 deliveries. Jaiswal brought up his half-century with a sublime shot to find the boundary.
In the same over, Hartley almost managed to bring out an outside edge from Rohit but the Indian skipper survived. After this moment of scare, Rohit (24) decided to settle the dwindling nerves by going for a maximum on Leach’s delivery. He mistimed his shot and the ball landed into the safe hands of England skipper Ben Stokes. This wicket marked Rohit’s 5th dismissal in seven innings against Leach. He has an average of just 19 against the English slow left-arm orthodox spinner.
The rest of the day saw Shubman Gill and Jaiswal exercising control, keeping the scoreboard ticking and avoiding further loss of any wicket. Earlier in the day, England decided to bat first after winning the tolls and the spin duo of Ashwin and Jadeja did not allow them much space.
Zak Crawley (20 runs from 40 balls) and Ben Duckett (35 runs from 39 balls) opened for England and put the visitors to a good start after they made a partnership of 55 runs. Crawley slammed three fours. Meanwhile, Duckett smashed seven fours. Ashwin made the first breakthrough of the game after he dismissed Duckett in the 12th over.
The second wicket came when Ravindra Jadeja removed Ollie Pope (1 run from 11 balls) in the 15th over. The third wicket came soon in the 16th over after Ashwin dismissed the English opener Crawley. Stokes with his knock of 70 was the only standout batter for the visitors and helped his side cross the 200-run mark. However, the 32-year-old failed to stitch a game-changing partnership.
After the lunch break, England could score only 108 runs and the Indian bowling attack picked up regular wickets and kept the ‘Bazball’ exploits in check. England ended their first innings with a score of 246 with Ashwin and Jadeja scalping three each giving India firm control in the game.
Brief score: England 246 (Ben Stokes 70, Ben Duckett 35; Ravichandran Ashwin 3-68) vs India 119/1 (Yashasvi Jaiswal 76*, Rohit Sharma 24; Jack Leach 1-23).
