Yashasvi Jaiswal (76 not out) and the spinners helped India gain control of proceedings on the opening day of the first Test against England in Hyderabad. The hosts were 119 for 1, trailing by 127 runs at close of play. For England, Ben Stokes composed a valiant 70.
The only time England seemed to have the upper hand was when they started well against the seamers in the morning session. After England aptly opted to bat, Zak Cralwey and Ben Duckett shared an enterprising opening stand of 55. However, in helpful conditions for spin bowling, it was always going to be an uphill task for the English batters against the troika of Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel and R Ashwin.
Ashwin was the first one to strike as he dismissed Duckett for the fourth time in his career. On replays, it was clear that he had employed the slider. Ollie Pope kept lunging at deliveries and paid the price by edging Jadeja to Rohit Sharma at slip. Ashwin then accounted for Crawley’s wicket, with the right-hander driving one to mid-off. At that juncture, Jonny Bairstow and Joe Root tried to prop up the innings with a timely stand of 61.
The feature of that partnership was Bairstow picking the length early. Root also showed reasonably good judgment, evidenced by how he didn’t go jabbing at deliveries that turned away from him. After the lunch break, Axar broke the promising stand with a beauty that turned at pace to castle Bairstow. Root followed him back to the pavilion, top-edging a sweep to short fine.
Ben Foakes and Rehan Ahmed didn’t make much of an impression. At 155 for 7, England were in deep trouble. Stokes, though, led England from the front. Initially, Stokes was intent on trusting his defence. At one point of time, he was batting on just 14 off 47 deliveries. Just that, with England losing wickets at regular intervals, he brought out a flurry of reverse sweeps, pulls and lofts.
Tom Hartley and Mark Wood also gave Stokes support. The England skipper was the last man dismissed, cleaned up by Jasprit Bumrah. Ashwin, Jadeja and Axar accounted for eight of the wickets to fall, while Bumrah took the other two.
When India came out to bat, Jaiswal played with a positive intent. He took on the Test debutant, Hartley, depositing him for a couple of sixes in his very first over. Hartley’s misery didn’t end there as Jaiswal also landed some crunchy drives and pulls. When Rehan was introduced into the attack, Jaiswal used his feet to good effect, lifting him for a six.
The essence of Jaiswal’s batting was how quickly he judged the length, which allowed him to use his feet alongside picking vital runs off the back foot. India did lose Rohit Sharma at the fag end of the day. Shubman Gill and Jaiswal then guided India to safe waters. Gill, however, had a few narrow escapes.
The visitors have a lot of work to do. A score of 246 was competitive enough on paper. Unfortunately for the tourists, they don’t seem to have the required quality in the spin department to make the most of the conditions. They have also lost all their reviews.
IND vs ENG | Day 1, Stumps: Live Discussion https://t.co/bD7GGl1m1R
— Boria Majumdar (@BoriaMajumdar) January 25, 2024