Ollie Pope won a crucial toss and invited India to bat on a pitch that had both seam and swing in abundance. The overcast conditions further accentuated the movement of the ball. The Indian batters were to be tested. They had to dig deep to survive.
Yashasvi Jaiswal had a mixed tour after his century in the first test. He has been finding it difficult to manoeuvre the ball coming into him from an angle. Gus Atkinson got one to nip back, Jaiswal missed it, got rapped on the pads, and was adjudged lbw. KL Rahul, who has been brilliant with the bat, played one on to his stumps.
Shubman Gill was looking regal with his touch but ran himself out attempting a non-existent single. Sai Sudharsan held fort for a while, but Josh Tongue produced a beauty to have him nick one to Jamie Smith. Jadeja followed soon thereafter. He, too, perished in a similar fashion to Sai, with Tongue again producing a brilliant delivery.
Karun Nair, probably given a long rope, added a good 30 runs with Dhruv Jurel. But yet again, the best bowler on show, Gus Atkinson, got Jurel to play one away from the body. With Jurel gone and the score at 153/6, it was not looking all that good for India. However, the calmness of Washington Sundar and an assured Karun Nair got India through the first day without any further damages, adding 51 runs in the process, to close out at 204/6. Karun Nair notched up his first half-century of the tour.
The English bowlers got the best of conditions to bowl on a rain-marred day. But they sprayed the ball all around and were guilty of being consistently inconsistent with their lengths and direction. They gave away 30 extras, including 16 wides and 4 no-balls. An erratic display that may return to haunt the English. With Chris Woakes injured and may not be able to bowl in the test, it is not going to be easy for the English bowlers.
As Day 2 beckons, India will look to build on the partnership and protect the tail as much as they can. While England will push for the 4 wickets at the earliest.
It is going to be an interesting day.
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