VISAKHAPATNAM: After captain Rohit Sharma’s wicket, Yashasvi Jaiswal-Shubman Gill’s partnership provided the hosts with a strong start as the pair took India past 100-run mark, making England toil hard in Visakhapatnam for wickets in the first session of the opening day of second Test at YS Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium on Friday.
At lunch, India’s score read 103/2 in 31 overs with Yashasvi Jaiswal (51) and Shreyas Iyer (4) standing unbeaten at the crease. After opting to bat first, India started their innings on a comfortable note as openers Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal stitched a steady partnership.
The duo were decisive in their approach made the visitors toil hard making merry of the excellent batting conditions on offer. The Indian batters rotated the strike brilliantly, not allowing the England bowlers to settle down while whacking the loose balls on offer.
Jaiswal was the aggressor of the batting pair, smashing boundaries regularly. The first session was completely dominated by the hosts’ batters as runs came thick for India. Jaiswal was fearless with his approach and showcased his variety of shots.
Debutant Shoaib Bashir provided his team with a big breakthrough as he removed Rohit for 14 runs, breaking an opening partnership of 40 runs.
Even the veteran bowlers were at the receiving end of young Indian batters. In the 29th over, veteran pacer James Anderson provided England with a massive breakthrough as he dismissed under-fire Gill for 34. Gill got completely confused by the swing in Anderson’s delivery and the ball touched the edge of the bat and wicketkeeper Ben Foakes made no mistake and took a terrific catch behind the stumps.
Jaiswal smoked the first six of the match in the 30th over and with a boundary on the next ball, he brought up his half-century in 89 deliveries. The pair of Jaiswal and Shreyas Iyer displayed great resilience and determination as they took India’s total beyond the 100-run mark at the stroke of Lunch with a powerful boundary.
Brief score: India 103/2 (Yashasvi Jaiswal 51*, Shubman Gill 34; James Anderson 1-19) vs England. (ANI)