Centurions Gill, Jaiswal take India to 359/3 on Day 1 of 1st Test against England

Leeds: The current stars of Indian cricket gave a sparkling demonstration of their ability to carry the transitional team forward as the visitors made a smashing start to the gruelling five-match Test series against England here on Friday.

The dashing Yashasvi Jaiswal, who announced himself big time with 712 runs in the five-match home series against England last year, continued his love affair with the Three Lions with a brilliant 101 while new skipper Shubman Gill showed he’s ready for one of the toughest jobs in the country with a gorgeous 127 not out. Gill’s deputy Rishabh Pant too came to the party in style on a baking opening day at Headingley with a cracking 65 not out, India taking stumps at acommanding 359/3.

This series is considered to be the ultimate test of character for this young Indian side missing two of their batting stalwarts — Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. And they were thrown into the fire right away after England skipper Ben Stokes won the toss and had no hesitation in asking India to bat first despite conditions not being brutal and home pace attack lacking experience. Yet, India was in for a challenge.

Can the flashy Jaiswal adapt his game to the swing and seam of England? Can the immensely gifted Gill, whose technique has been found wanting outside the subcontinent especially with the balls that come in, show he has learnt from his mistakes and vindicate BCCI selectors’ decision to hand him the captaincy at a tender age of 25 years? Can vice-captain Pant blend his natural aggression with maturity for the sake of the team? All those questions were answered emphatically that has now left an errant England instead searching for answers on a placid pitch.

The 23-year-old Jaiswal, who made an impression even in Australia with a brilliant century at Perth, followed by two 80s in the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne, was his typical self in a free-flowing knock. An opener who likes to be busy all the time by taking his chances, the southpaw hardly allowed the largely inexperienced England pace attack to settle into any sort of rhythm.

Against the pacers, he batted a yard outside the crease to negate the swing and went for his shots every time the ball was pitched up, not worrying about the repercussions. It was chancy at the start, but to his credit, he looked in control of what he was trying to do. With

England’s pacers barely showing any discipline, he grew in confidence as the innings wore on and started dealing with only boundaries after a point in time. Drives down the ground and cuts on the front and back foot, Jaiswal simply meant business from the word go in notching up his fifth Test century.

Gill at the other end was class personified. Arriving at the crease following the quick dismissals of KL Rahul (42) and debutant Sai Sudharsan (0) on the stroke of lunch, Gill had his task cut out. England, having done their homework about him, initially tested his weakness with a lot of incoming deliveries. They hoped to sneak one in the gap between bat and pad.

However, just like how Jaiswal showed his preparation for the series, Gill unleashed his improved defence. There were barely any gaps between his bat and pads and he read the lines beautifully. At the same time, he never backed away from playing his shots as runs came at almost four an over during his association with Jaiswal in the scintillating second session. He was forced to defend a lot more in a probing final session but Gill was up for it too before going to bring up his sixth Test century and becoming the fourth Indian to reach three figures on captaincy debut.

SCOREBOARD

INDIA (I Innings):

Jaiswal b Stokes 101

(159b, 16x4, 1x6)

Rahul c Root b Carse 42

(78b, 8x4)

Sudharsan c Smith b Stokes 0

(4b)

Gill (batting) 127

(175b, 16x4, 1x6)

Pant (batting) 65

(102b, 6x4, 2x6)

Extras (B-1, LB-10, W-1, NB-7, Pen-5) 24

TOTAL (for 3 wkts, 85 overs) 359

Fall of wickets: 1-91 (Rahul), 2-92 (Sudharsan), 3-221 (Jaiswal)

Bowling: Woakes 19-2-89-0, Carse 16-5-70-1 (nb-2), Tongue 16-0-75-0

(nb-1), Stokes 13-1-43-2 (w-1, nb-1), Bashir 21-4-66-0.