IND vs ENG, LIVE Updates: Shubman Gill, Rishabh Pant eye a mountain of runs to inflict more pain and agony on England

Hindustan Times

4 hours ago

IND vs ENG Live Updates, India vs England Test Series Day 2: How much more can Shubman Gill and Rishabh Pant get?
IND vs ENG Live Updates, India vs England Test Series Day 2: Ask a cricket team how they would like to start a long away tour, and their answer will usually be that they go out, put runs on the board, don't lose too many wickets, and start wearing out the opposition bowling early. With that in mind, how India performed in their first day's play at Headingley in Leeds was probably a dream start, especially after being put in to bat. 359 runs on the first day, only three wickets down with two batters well-set at the crease heading into day two: India have the chance to really run the score up, and set themselves a very strong cushion for the remainder of the Test match, and potentially even the series beyond. ...Read More
On Shubman Gill's captaincy debut, his rock-solid batting and second international ton was the story. Gill put away all the questions regarding his ability to play Test cricket overseas: although he has had his struggles opening and at number three against the moving ball, number four proved to be a much better entry point for him, after the opening batters had blunted the fresh Dukes and allowed him to start his innings off on the front foot. Gill looked in total control throughout the day, easily handling the bowling's best and regularly putting away any looseners. This was also the story for Yashasvi Jaiswal, whom he shared a 129-run partnership with. India's scorecard and Playing XI:
KL Rahul - 42
Yashasvi Jaiswal - 101
Sai Sudharsan - 0
Shubman Gill - 127 not out
Rishabh Pant - 65 not out
Yet to bat:
Ravindra Jadeja, Karun Nair, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna.
This wasn't a Jaiswal classic, as he had a couple of rough patches, but that's perhaps what makes it more commendable: the ability to battle through, to score runs despite not connecting everything, and to score a fifth Test century, under two years into his career.
India's two young batters came into this match knowing they were taking up the mantle of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, a proposition that too most would have been daunting, one which you could expect them to need some time to settle into. But both batters were in control, and their batting said that they were ready for this task. Good omens not just for this match or this series, but further beyond. England's Playing XI:
Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Ben Stokes (Captain), Harry Brook, Jamie Smith (Wicketkeeper), Chris Woakes, Brydon Carse, Josh Tongue, Shoaib Bashir.
On Day 2, India's goal will likely be to keep batting and minimise the need to bat a second time. This could mean trying to play through the majority of the day before asking Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj to have a tilt in the closing session of play. Key to India's gameplan will be Rishabh Pant: batting on 65*, if Pant can survive the fresh second new ball in the morning, he could really turn the scoring up and rapidly push India to and past that 500 mark.
England will be wary, and their plan will be to bowl funky lines and lengths to Pant, and hope he gets himself into a tangle. If they manage that, only the matter of trying to dislodge the Indian captain, holding up one end at 127* and just as capable of stepping up through the gears. Another potentially long day in store for the hosts in Leeds. Below are a few pointers surrounding Day 2 of the India vs England 1st Test at Headingley:
- India will resume on a commanding 359/3
- Rishabh Pant is unbeaten on 65 and Shubman Gill on 127
- Yashashvi Jaiswal scored a sublime century on Day 1, his first 100 on English soil
- Sai Sudharsan was dismissed for a duck on his Test debut
- KL Rahul fell for 42 after a promising start.
- The second new ball is just five overs old.