India vs England Highlights 5th Test Day 1, IND vs ENG: Indian skipper Rohit Sharma stood firm, reaching a well-deserved half-century (52*), while Shubman Gill showcased composure during his brief innings, remaining not out on 26, as India concluded Day 1 at 135/1 after 30 overs. The team displayed resilience, staging an impressive fightback to restrict England to a modest total of 218, despite the visitors’ initial comfort at 175/3. Notably, all ten English wickets fell to spinners, with Kuldeep Yadav leading the charge with a remarkable five-wicket haul.
Yashasvi Jaiswal, once again demonstrating his batting prowess, made a promising start but fell for 57 while attempting a third consecutive boundary off Shoaib Bashir. Despite his relatively short stay, Jaiswal surpassed Virat Kohli’s record (655 runs) to become the highest run-scorer for India against England in a Test series. Rohit Sharma displayed composure throughout his innings, while Shubman Gill adopted a naturally aggressive approach, with India trailing by just 83 runs at Stumps.
India edged ahead in the match towards the second half of the second session. Kuldeep picked five wickets and triggered yet another England middle-order collapse. He dismissed the big-hitting Jonny Bairstow, who was playing his 100th Test and then got England captain Ben Stokes. In between the two wickets, Joe Root fell to Ravindra Jadeja. Both Stokes and Root fell for ducks and both players along with Bairstow took failed reviews, which means England don’t have any of them left either in what has turned out to be a disaster of a second session for them. England lost all three wickets on a score of 175.
India got a boost late in the first session with Kuldeep sending back Ollie Pope and England finished the first session 100/2. The visitors were lucky to have not lost a wicket in the first hour of the day India’s pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah milking everything that the pitch and conditions had to offer. However, India finally got a reward for their efforts with Kuldeep getting the wicket of Ben Duckett thanks in part to a brilliant catch by Shubman Gill. Crawley carried on and scored yet another half-century. He was batting on 61 off 71 balls when Pope fell and the umpires called for Lunch.
The visitors had won the toss and chosen to bat. Devdutt Padikkal is making his Test debut in place of Rajat Patidar, who captain Rohit Sharma said picked up an injury. Ravichandran Ashwin, who himself is set to play his 100th Test, handed Padikkal his debut cap. Ashwin was later handed his 100th Test cap in a special ceremony by head coach Rahul Dravid.
After a 10-day gap, the two teams are back to play the final Test of this exciting five-match series in one of the coldest parts of the country – the HPCA Stadium on Dharamsala, where the conditions won’t be easy by any stretch of the imagination. Intense cold has gripped Dharamsala, so much so that even beanies, hoodies and pullovers may not be enough for the players to grapple the chill. The minimum temperature is around 1 degree and the max won’t go beyond 7 or 8 across the next 5 days.
