England opener Dominic Sibley and captain Joe Root deflated India on Day 1 of the first Test in Chennai Friday with an unbeaten double-century stand.
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At stumps, England were 263/3 with landmark man Root unbeaten on 128 off 197. The skipper was involved in a double-century stand with Sibley for the third wicket in 390 balls.
Their stand is the highest partnership for any wicket against India in India since January 2013, surpassing 191 by Australian pair Steve Smith and Glenn Maxwell in Ranchi (March 2017).
But they failed to go past 208 stitched by England compatriots Ian Bell and Jonathan Trott at Nagpur in December 2012. Bell-Trot stand was to produce 200 runs in India, lasting nearly a decade. Incidentally, Root made his Test debut in that match.
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In the last over of the day, Jasprit Bumrah trapped Sibly in front for 87 off 285 balls to break the 200-run stand.
Root, playing his 100th Test match, won the toss and elected to bat first.
India: Virat Kohli (captain), Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Rishab Pant (wk), R Ashwin, Washington Sundar, Ishant Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Shahbaz Nadeem.
England: Joe Root (captain), Rory Burns, Dominic Sibley, Ollie Pope, Dan Lawrence, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler (wk), Jofra Archer, Dom Bess, James Anderson, Jack Leach.
