England were held by India captain Shubman Gill's sensational century as their bowlers fought admirably on the first day of the second Test at Edgbaston.
England were held by India captain Shubman Gill's sensational century as their bowlers fought admirably on the first day of the second Test at Edgbaston.
After England's Ben Stokes elected to bowl first for the second consecutive Test, Gill's patient knock of 114 not out from 216 deliveries helped India to 310-5 at stumps.
India's cause was not helped ahead of the match by the news that Jasprit Bumrah was to sit out the Test. It was one of three changes, with Akash Deep, Nitish Kumar Reddy and Washington Sundar drafted in.
And the tourists got off to a poor start when KL Rahul fell to Chris Woakes in the ninth over in what proved to be a blistering new-ball spell by the England fast bowler.
Brydon Carse (1-29) then dismissed Karun Nair (31) just before lunch, though Yashasvi Jaiswal's 62 had India at 98-2 heading into the second session on Wednesday.
The Indian opener fell just short of a sixth Test century after slashing a wide delivery outside off stump through to wicketkeeper Jamie Smith from Ben Stokes' bowling.
Rishabh Pant (25) and Kumar Reddy (one) were then dismissed consecutive overs to leave India at risk of another middle-order collapse, but Gill remained composed to reach his ton from 199 deliveries.
He put on 99 with Ravindra Jadeja (41 not out) to see out the final session, and India will need another strong showing on day two if they are to try and bat England out of the game.
Data Debrief: Captain Gill steadies the ship
Gill has taken the India captaincy in his stride, with his fine innings proving he has what it takes to lead his team through this second Test.
Indeed, he became just the second Indian captain after Mohammad Azhaurddin to score hundreds in consecutive matches in England.
He is also the third Indian skipper, after Azhaurddin in 1990 in New Zealand and England, and Virat Kohli in Australia during the 2014-15 series, to score tons in consecutive SENA Tests.
Only Steven Smith (three) and Alastair Cook (five) have scored more centuries in consecutive Tests since their captaincy debut, and you feel as though Gill will be eyeing up some more big scores in the matches to come.
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