BIRMINGHAM: India reached 182-3 at tea on the opening day of the second test against England at Edgbaston on Wednesday after opening batter Yashasvi Jaiswal fell short of what would have been his second century of the series.
Resuming on 98-2 after lunch after being put in to bat, Jaiswal and skipper Shubman Gill steadily built a partnership before England skipper Ben Stokes made the breakthrough.
Gill had taken the majority of the strike in the second session and when Jaiswal was on 87, he sliced at a wide delivery from Stokes and was caught behind by an ecstatic Jamie Smith.
As Stokes wheeled away in celebration, Jaiswal, who had scored a century in the first innings of the opening test, looked on forlornly at the celebrations before he trudged back to the pavilion.
That brought Rishabh Pant to the crease, however, and the wicketkeeper-batter, who smashed two centuries in the first test, launched spinner Shoaib Bashir over the deep midwicket boundary for the first six of the match.
Pant (14 not out) and Gill (42 not out) were at the crease at tea.
Earlier, India lost opener KL Rahul cheaply while Karun Nair, who was promoted up the order, fell for 31 just before lunch after playing some exquisite drives as he shared an 80-run partnership with Jaiswal.
India survived two lbw reviews in the first session but Chris Woakes struck in his opening spell when Rahul looked to defend a rising delivery, only to deflect the ball onto the base of his off stump and depart for two.
Nair, meanwhile, looked set to lay the foundation for India’s innings but was surprised by a short ball, nicking Brydon Carse straight to second slip where Harry Brook took a simple catch.
Jaiswal saw off the new ball early on in cloudy conditions but once the lush green outfield was bathed in sunshine, he got into his groove and scored at nearly a run a ball.
Josh Tongue was on the receiving end of some cracking shots off Jaiswal’s blade as the opener smashed two boundaries, leaping off his feet to cut a delivery over point and bring up his fifty.
England named the same team and India made three changes, resting pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah as they manage his back issues through the series – a decision that baffled former players and coaches.
Sai Sudharsan and Shardul Thakur were dropped, with Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar and Akash Deep coming into the side to strengthen the lower order after India lost the first test at Headingley.
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