Opener Yashasvi Jaiswal’s brilliance overshadowed an underwhelming show by other batters as India dominated the proceedings on Day 1 of the second Test against England in Visakhapatnam on Friday.
The left-handed batter smashed an unbeaten 179 off 257 deliveries as India finished the day on 336/6 with Ravichandran Ashwin (5*) for company.
While Jaiswal carried his bat with 17 boundaries and five sixes, the rest of the Indian batters were guilty of failing to convert their starts into anything substantial.
The biggest partnership for the day for the home team was a 90-run third wicket stand between the southpaw and Shreyas Iyer, who eventually under-edged a Tom Hartley delivery to wicketkeeper Ben Foakes while trying to bat aggressively, leaving India reeling at 179/3.
While the ball which got Iyer did keep unusually low, the shot selection from the batter after having already hit a boundary earlier in the over was questionable as his poor run of form in Test cricket continued.
Jaiswal then added 70 runs for the fourth wicket with debutant Rajat Patidar, who was a bit unlucky to fall for 32 as the a Rehan Ahmed delivery bounced a bit extra before hitting the batter’s glove and slowly trickling into the stumps.
Later in the day, all-rounder Axar Patel (27) and wicketkeeper KS Bharat (17) were guilty of hitting short and widish deliveries straight into the hands of fielders.
Earlier, India started cautiously after opting to bat first. Jaiswal added 40 runs for the opening wicket with captain Rohit Sharma (14), who fell to debutant Shoaib Bashir, as he was caught at leg-slip while trying a glance to hand the bowler his first international wicket.
Shubman Gill looked good for his 34 but fell to the experienced James Anderson, driving with hard hands in the corridor of uncertainty.
Bashir and Ahmed were the pick of the bowlers for England with two wickets apiece.