A sharp shower, rolling in without warning, pushed the players indoors 40 minutes before the scheduled interval and left India on 72 for 2 after 23 overs at The Oval. It was the third time this series that Shubman Gill lost the toss, yet again asked to bat in brooding, seam-friendly conditions.
Gus Atkinson, recalled for his first Test in two months and one of four England changes, struck in his opening spell. Yashasvi Jaiswal shuffled across his stumps, was hit in front, and the on-field ‘not-out’ vanished once stand-in captain Ollie Pope rolled the dice with DRS. It broke a streak of 14 unsuccessful reviews for Pope, and Atkinson closed the session with a tidy 6-1-7-1.
KL Rahul resisted for 40 balls, collecting 14, before the scoreboard pressure told. Chris Woakes persisted with a short-of-a-length line; India had eked out only five runs in six overs, so Rahul chased width that was not quite there and inside-edged into his stumps.
Enter Gill, already past 700 runs for the campaign, joined by debutant Sai Sudharsan. The pair looked at ease against a replacement attack missing Jofra Archer and Ben Stokes. Josh Tongue sprayed 11 wides in his first over; Jamie Overton leaked 16 from three. Overnight rain had left the bowlers’ landing area tacky, and the odd front-foot slide hardly helped their rhythm.
The pitch still shows roughly 8 mm of grass, and with heavy cloud overhead the fuller length – around four to six metres from the bat – remains the danger zone. Anything shorter or over-pitched is there to hit, and Sudharsan helped himself whenever the seamers drifted.
Rain is expected to ease after lunch, but another band is on the radar. For now, India hold a modest platform; England have the new ball just eight overs old and plenty of encouragement from a surface that continues to offer nip and bounce.
