Indian skipper Shubman Gill joined Yashasvi in the middle, and they kept the scoreboard ticking without taking any unnecessary chances.
On Wednesday, July 2, India ended Day 1 of the second Test against England at Edgbaston, Birmingham, with 310/5 in 85 overs. The tourists would be pleased with their performance after losing the toss and being pushed into bat first. Former cricketers chastised the Indian team management earlier in the day for benching Kuldeep Yadav and resting Jasprit Bumrah. However, they did not allow the outside commotion to dampen their spirits.
Yashasvi Jaiswal got off to a quick start, taking the attack to England’s bowlers. When he was batting, he didn’t take half measures and pounced on each stray ball that came his way. KL Rahul, on the other hand, played conservatively until getting removed for two runs by Chris Woakes, who bowled an outstanding stint up front.
Yashasvi and Karun Nair teamed together and played an aggressive brand of cricket. They scored 80 runs from just 90 balls, putting England on the back foot. After reaching 31 runs off 50 balls, Nair was bowled by Brydon Carse for a perfect delivery.
The pitch did not provide much for the England bowlers, who were made to work hard.
Yashasvi had a century on the line, but a wayward shot in the second session forced him to trek the lengthy distance back to the pavilion, falling 13 runs shy of his second century of the tour. The Mumbai batsman made 87 runs from 107 deliveries before being dismissed by England captain Ben Stokes.
Rishabh Pant and Shubman combined caution and aggression in their 47-run stand before the former danced down the track and attempted to hit Shoaib Bashir for a maximum. The wicketkeeper-batsman failed to establish a suitable connection between the bat and the ball and was wonderfully caught by Zak Crawley at long-on. Nitish Kumar Reddy, in his first game of the series, shouldered arms to Woakes’ delivery, which nipped back in after pitching and damaged the stumps.
This was a great little passage of play for the hosts as they took two wickets in consecutive overs. At 211/5, India needed a partnership, and it came from Shubman and Ravindra Jadeja. The former notched up his second century in the series in the 80th over, hitting a boundary off Joe Root’s bowling.
At Stumps on Day 1, Shubman finished unbeaten on 114 off 216 deliveries, belting 12 fours. Meanwhile, Jadeja is not out on 41 after facing 67 deliveries. India would look to get to at least 450, especially after adding more depth in their batting department in this Test.
India
