2nd Test, Visakhapatnam (Day 1 of 5): |
India 336-6: (Jaishwar 179*; Ahmed 2-61, Bashir 2-100) |
England: Still up to the bat |
scorecard |
On the first day of the second Test in Visakhapatnam, England were at the mercy of India, despite Yashasvi Jaiswal scoring a sublime century.
Opening pitcher Jaiswal batted all day and scored 179 runs, leading the home team to 336 wins and 6 losses.
Trailing 1-0 after losing a thrilling first Test, India were unable to completely squander their advantage of winning the toss and batting first with the left-armer's knock.
Jaiswal shared three 50-plus partnerships but his teammates wasted starts. All six players who were let go were between the ages of 14 and 34.
Shoaib Bashir, 20 years old on debut, was the best of England's four spinners and took his maiden Test wicket when Rohit Sharma slipped.
James Anderson, in his 22nd consecutive year as a Test cricketer, bowled brilliantly as the sole seamer and took the wicket of Shubman Gill.
Bashir got his second goal later in the day, catching Axar Patel at point, and Rehan Ahmed did the same for KS Bharat, leaving India with any real hope of keeping things manageable. and left England.
England fight all day long in the mud
If England's victory in Hyderabad was remarkable, this long day there was a more typical tour of India. If the tourists pass his six wickets, it probably means that they did well.
Bur Anderson, this England attack is very inexperienced. This is the second time in Test history that England have two bowlers under the age of 21 in Ahmed and Bashir.
Still, England carried out their mission. There were occasional bad balls and errors in the field, but it says a lot about their mental fortitude that they were able to chip away at the other end while Jaiswal completed a masterful knock.
Perhaps mindful of their wasteful batting style in the first innings in Hyderabad, India grounded out, often scoring less than three points per over. One might wonder how England approached their batting in these circumstances.
The pitch looks right at the moment, but could quickly deteriorate later in the game. When England take to bat, the first innings must be given importance.
In the end, thanks to Jaiswal, India were able to bat enough, even despite his knock, for England to run through the lower order teams and take the lead in the first innings.
Jaiswal's latest step towards superstar status
Jaiswal is a rising star in Indian cricket and has a backstory to match his incredible talent. At the age of 12, he moved to Mumbai to further his cricket and earned his living by selling street food.
He was noticed by a coach while playing for the famous Maidan and started on his way to becoming the player of the match at the 2020 U-19 World Cup, before signing a huge contract to play for the Indian Premier League's Rajasthan Royals. . .
Now he is shedding light on the test format. It was his 200th in just his sixth Test, laced with some brilliant strokes to break through the offside. Two of his four sixes were brilliant lofts over extra cover and the other was a long hit off Tom Hartley to take Jaiswal to triple figures.
Had it not been for a fluke of 41 runs off 30 balls in the run-up to his century, Jaiswal's score was measured. He added 90 runs with Shreyas Iyer and 70 runs with his debutant Rajat Patidar. Jaiswal had 73 and 155 when Joe Root, who slipped, got his fingertips on the flush edge.
England had the opportunity to make it their day when Axar somehow cut Bashir for a point deep in the evening session.
KS Bharat arrived and attacked, but he too fell to a loose shot from Ahmed, leaving Ravichandran Ashwin to support Jaiswal till the end.
Bashir's bright start
Basheer's path to Test cricket coincides with Jaiswal's romance. He played club cricket last summer after being released by Surrey and picked up by Somerset. He was confirmed as an option for this tour after being spotted on Twitter by Ben Stokes, but visa delays prevented him from arriving until Sunday.
Still, Bashir is England's best spinner and proved why he was given his debut in just six first-class games. It took less than four overs for him to make the turn that forced Rohit to slip leg, and the 20-year-old was delighted by shouting to the sky.
In contrast to Bashir's youthfulness, Anderson, at 41, is the oldest seamer to have played a Test for India. He was wonderful, controlled, skillful, and stingy throughout. He pulled Gil to the back edge.
Hartley didn't match his heroics in Hyderabad, but at least Shreyas brilliantly missed Ben Foakes' under edge. Root started bowling but bowled like a batsman, but Ahmed was decent enough when he was finally used, so Patidar continued to play.
There was a chance that England could have planted a flag with Jaiswal and Axar coming close, but Bashir's persistence was rewarded and he took Axar's wicket with one of his worst shots.
Ahmed's sacking of Bharat remains largely intact, and with the bottom half exposed, England now have a second new ball on hand on Saturday if necessary.