R Ashwin points at the pitch in Hyderabad. (Courtesy: BCCI.TV)
In a contrasting tale between the two sides, Team India trailed 127 runs at stumps on Day 1 of the first Test against England on Thursday at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad. Young opener Yashasvi Jaiswal (76* off 70 balls) played a fearless knock while Shubman Gill (14*) supported him cautiously from the other end as Team India reached 119/1 on Day 1.
Earlier, the Indian spin trio of Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, and Axar Patel scalped eight wickets in unison to bundle out England to 246 runs. The visitors” captain Ben Stokes played a resilient knock of 70 runs off 88 deliveries, including six boundaries and three sixes, to guide his side to a respectable total in the first innings.
On Day 1, a total of 11 wickets fell with most of the damage done by the Indian spinners. Ashwin explained how the pitch at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad played and his key take aways from the day. “It was pretty interesting in the first session, maybe there was a bit of moisture. Because of the early moisture, there was enough speed in the pitch in the first session. Then it slowed down.
“The ball that spun….not enough speed to carry through to the slip fielders. You need to mix your pace up and be extremely consistent for you to not be giving runs in this pitch. 240 was a very very good competitive total I thought. When we left the field, I was thinking probably 30-40 runs more than what we would have liked.”
Ashwin returned the figures of 3/68 in the first innings. He dismissed the English openers Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett early and then dismissed the Tom Hartley.
