It was billed as a battle between England's 'Bazball' and India's 'Spinball'. The aggressive approach endorsed by Ben Stokes and Kiwi coach Brendon McCullum, up against the spin firepower of the hosts. But only one half of that materialized on Day 1 of the first Test in Hyderabad. (Scorecard | Streaming)
While India's potent spin trio of Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel did just what was expected of them, the English batters just couldn't Bazball their way out of trouble. However, the second innings of the day saw that very approach being adopted, albeit by home team opener Yashasvi Jaiswal.
The 22-year-old southpaw went all guns blazing right from the get go, racing away to a stroke-filled half-century in just 47 balls. This was the youngster's second Test fifty - the first one coming against West Indies at Port of Spain on July 20, 2023. Jaiswal was severe on anything errant, but took a special liking to the left-arm spin of debutant Tom Hartley, who went for 63 runs off his nine overs.
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Jaiswal found the gaps with ease, and was never afraid of taking the aerial route. The same pitch that was appearing treacherous in the first innings was now not threatening enough for Jaiswal to unfurl his flair for a grateful audience at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium. At stumps, Jaiswal was unbeaten on 76 off just 70 balls and looking good for many more.
Earlier, Axar, Ashwin and Jadeja scythed through the English batting and bowled them out for a sub-par total of 246 inside 65 overs, after skipper Ben Stokes won the toss and chose to bat first. Kuldeep Yadav missed out, as there was no space for him in the Indian XI.
