Tea – India 215 for 2 (Jaiswal 100, Gill 58) v England
Yashasvi Jaiswal walked off for the interval unbeaten on 100, Shubman Gill alongside him on 58, and India firmly on top in the opening Test of the series. Under clear skies and temperatures that felt far more Mumbai than Leeds, England’s green-looking attack found little relief.
Jaiswal’s hundred – his fifth in 14 Tests and, remarkably, his first innings on English soil – was built almost entirely through the off side. Only nine of his first 100 runs were scored to leg; the rest came through a stream of punches, cuts and high-class drives. When Brydon Carse dropped short just before tea, Jaiswal climbed on top of the bounce and crunched consecutive boundaries, then sprinted a single to reach three figures. Job done, but no fuss.
Gill, captaining a Test side for the first time, played with more urgency. He pushed early, risking a run-out on six when Ollie Pope’s shy at the stumps missed by inches and scurried away for four. Otherwise, the new skipper looked comfortable, raising a 56-ball fifty – his quickest in this format – by taking Chris Woakes for three boundaries in an over.
England’s morning had begun tidily enough. Gus Atkinson and Matthew Potts kept things tight, and Rohit Sharma edged Potts behind in the tenth over. Yet once the shine faded the lines did too. Woakes leaked 38 in six post-lunch overs, Carse overstepped to reprieve Jaiswal on 45, and debutant off-spinner Shoaib Bashir saw his first delivery sliced for four.
Ben Stokes tried the short-ball plan, two men out at deep cover, but Jaiswal simply upper-cut Carse for the afternoon’s first six. On a surface offering true bounce and minimal seam, India scored at nearly four an over without looking reckless.
England will point to the new ball, due seven overs after tea, as a way back. Yet, with India two down and Jaiswal set, they need something special – swing, reverse, or a burst of inspiration – to keep this match on even terms.
