India were staring down the barrel at 98/5 when Rishabh Pant, along with Ravindra Jadeja, came to India's rescue on the first day of the fifth Test at Edgbaston.
Ben Stokes won the all-important toss in Birmingham and opted to bowl first. England had already announced their playing XI on the eve of the game and made two changes from the last game against New Zealand – Sam Billings replaced Ben Foakes and Jamie Overton made way for James Anderson.
There was a lot of interest regarding India’s possible lineup after confirmation that Rohit Sharma would not be playing the game. Standing in as skipper, Jasprit Bumrah revealed at the toss that Cheteshwar Pujara would open the batting with Shubman Gill.
Openers throw away start
The new opening pair of Gill and Pujara were tasked with the responsibility of seeing off the new ball in extremely overcast conditions. Though Gill was positive in his approach early on, he failed to get through the opening exchange.
Gill started with a four in the very first over and looked in ominous touch. He hit Stuart Broad for two glorious boundaries but fell victim to his own aggression. Throwing his bat at Anderson’s ball outside off, he was out caught at slips.
Pujara and Hanuma Vihari were extremely cautious in their approach at the crease but England managed to create chances. Pujara was given out caught by the umpire but DRS came to his review. Vihari, on the other hand, was lucky to be dropped by Zak Crawley at slip.
He made amends a few overs later when Anderson induced an edge through to slip off Pujara’s bat as the makeshift opener departed for 13.
Everyone in the stadium and outside waited with bated breath for the new chapter of James Anderson vs. Virat Kohli to be written, though rain played spoilsport, forcing the players off the pitch. Early lunch was called eventually as India went into the break at 53/2.
England dominate after the break
Once the rain went away and the umpires were happy with the few patches on the field, play resumed after a gap of two hours.
Kohli got up and running with a streaky boundary but that was all the joy for India in the first few overs after lunch. Vihari was the first to walk back after being trapped in front of the stumps by Matthew Potts for 20.
Potts was over the moon in the next over when he got the big wicket of Kohli. The pacer got his line bang on – just outside off stump and enough to create doubt in the mind of the batter – and Kohli decided to withdraw his bat out late which induced an inside edge that crashed into the stumps.
Shreyas Iyer came out counter-attacking but his 15-run cameo came to an end when Billings took flight and took a stunning catch down leg.
Pant-Jadeja fight fire with fire
India were in a spot of bother at 98/5 when Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja came together. The all-rounder made his intentions clear early on by coming down the track to smash Potts for a four.
Once set, Pant picked Jack Leach apart when he returned to the attack, plundering him for two fours and a six. Closer to tea, they became a lot more cautious, though that didn't stop Pant from getting to his fifty with a boundary.
Runs continued to flow from the bats of the two southpaws, though there was a jittery period where there were a few play-and-misses. The pair managed to get out of it unscathed and continued to milk the boundaries as their partnership went past 100.
England's decision to persist with Leach did not work and cost them a few too many runs. Pant smashed Leach for two boundaries to go into the nineties and an over later scored his fifth Test ton by scampering for a double.
Jadeja wasn't to be left too far behind and got to his fifty the same over.
Once he got to the milestone, Pant became even more dangerous and smashed Leach out of the attack with two boundaries and two sixes in a span of four balls.
That forced Stokes to bring Joe Root on as a spin-bowling option and the move paid off. Having smashed Root for a six, Pant tried to get to his 150 with a boundary but was out caught at slip four runs short, thus ending the marathon 222-run stand.
Shardul Thakur's stay at the crease did not last long as Stokes' got the better of him with the short ball. Ravindra Jadeja decided to hog strike thereafter to ensure more wickets don't fall and together with Mohammad Shami, took India safely to stumps at 338/7.
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