IND Vs ENG, 1st Test Day 1: India Dominate England On Opening Day But Still Trail By 127 Runs; IND - 119/1 (23 Overs), ENG - 246 - As It Happened

Welcome to the Match Blog of the Day 1 of India vs England 1st Test played at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad. India are set to host England for a five-game Test bilateral series and the first match is scheduled in Hyderabad. England announced their playing XI one day before the match, and the exclusion of James Anderson was shocking. As the Hyderabad pitch favours spinners, England will go with three spinners, namely Rehan Ahmed, Jack Leach and Tom Hartley. Mark Wood was the only front-line pacer in the playing XI announced on Wednesday. Rohit Sharma-led Indian team will try to fill the void of Virat Kohli somehow. Rajat Patidar has joined the team as his replacement but whether he will play or not, is not certain. KL Rahul will not keep the wickets. Sharma hinted in the press brief that they might go with three spinners as well citing confusion between Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav for the spot of the third spinner in the final XI. Follow the live blog for live cricket scores and updates of the IND Vs ENG, 1st Test Day 1 (Scorecard | Streaming)

Squads:

India: Rohit Sharma (C), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (WK), KS Bharat (WK), Dhruv Jurel (WK), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Avesh Khan

England: Ben Stokes (C), Rehan Ahmed, James Anderson, Gus Atkinson, Jonny Bairstow (WK), Shoaib Bashir, Harry Brook, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ben Foakes, Tom Hartley, Jack Leach, Ollie Pope, Ollie Robinson, Joe Root, Mark Wood.

Brief Score: ENG - 246/10 (64.3)
Ben Stokes - 70 (88),  Jonny Bairstow - 37 (58)  |  Ravichandran Ashwin: (21-1-68-3)

IND - 119/1 (23)
Yashasvi Jaiswal - 76 (70),  Rohit Sharma - 24 (27)  |  Jack Leach: (9-2-24-1)

Shubman Gill finally opened his boundary account with a four against Rehan Ahmed. Jaiswal also targetted Ahmed and hit him for a six and a four in two different overs. India were still trailing by 127 runs when the Umpires called Stumps.

Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill are taking no risk at the moment after the openers put up a fiery start if the Indian innings. With a few overs' play left for today, both the batters want to remain unbeaten. Gill is only defencing the balls and Jaiswal is only hitting the selective balls.

IND - 94/1 (18)

Rohit Sharma holed out after Jack Leach slowed down the pace of the ball and beaten by flight, Rohit played the lofted drive. The ball went up in the air and Stokes covered some distance, kept his eyes on the ball and took a simple catch to send the Indian captain away. India lose their first wicket. Shubman Gill is the new batter at the crease.

IND - 82/1 (13)

Both the openers have targetted the debutant Tom Hartley and going after him. He has conceded 34 runs in the first three overs. Hartley has given a couple of boundaries in all three overs so far. Jack Leach has kept the batters at bay and bother openers have not risked taking a chance on him. India completed the fifty runs in just 39 balls. England Test team's batting style - 'Bazball' is being played by India in Hyderabad.

IND - 51/0 (7)

Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rohit Sharma opened the Indian innings and the ball was in Mark Wood's hands. The first ball went for a boundary. Jaiswal is in a different mood today. Tom Hartley came to bowl the second over and Jaiswal welcomed him with a six on the very first ball of his career. He hit him for another six in the over.

IND - 19/0 (2)

Jasprit Bumrah Removed Ben Stokes after he was trying to hit every other delivery for a boundary. Bumrah had the final laugh as the ball moved inside and hit the off stump of Ben Stokes. Even Stokes appreciated the Bumrah's delivery. Stokes played a 70-run knock which was very crucial for England to go past 200 and near of 250-run mark. However, England bundled out for 246 runs.

ENG - 246/10 (64.3)

Ravichandran Ashwin bowled Mark Wood. Ben Stokes has completed his half-century with back-to-back sixes on Jadeja's bowling. Jack Leach is the new batter at the crease. Both the batters are well-known for their Headingley Oval partnership. But situations are different here. Can Leach survive for half an hour here, only time will tell.

ENG - 234/9 (62)

England captain Ben Stokes is still present at the cease and he can create problems for India if he stands there for one more hour. India just need two more wickets to finish England's first innings. Mark Wood can also slog the bat. Ben Stokes is nearing his half-century but he must be eyeing for a greater thing that is taking his team to a respectable total. 

ENG - 215/8 (59)

Ben Stokes and debutant Tom Hartley were adding crucial runs in between. Hartley was targeting the spinners and was looking confident against them. He first hit Jadeja for a four then Ashwin for a massive six. Jadeja was brought again into the attack and Stokes hit a boundary on his first ball. Hartley was bowled on the last delivery of the over. He played a small cameo of 23 runs.

ENG - 193/8 (55)

Ben Stokes is the only batter left who can add some runs from here as England lost their seventh wicket in the form of Rehan Ahmed. Jasprit Bumrah bowled a leg cutter which took an inside edge of Rehan's bat and KS Bharat took a brilliant catch diving forward. The third Umpire was called to check the catch and it was a legal catch. Debutant Tom Hartley is the new batter at the crease.

ENG - 155/7 (49)

India now have England in all sorts of trouble. Ravindra Jadeja got rid of the dangerous Joe Root, and Axar Patel accounted for both Jonny Bairstow and Ben Foakes to leave the visitors six down. Captain Ben Stokes now has the responsibility to take his team to a respectable total. Rehan Ahmed is at the crease alongside him.

ENG - 144/6 (46) 

Root played the pre-planned sweep shot. The duration was insufficient to warrant playing it, and he paid the price. Lobs up off the top edge for an easy catch by Bumrah at short fine leg. England loses both of their set batters in fast succession, losing half of their team.

ENG - 125/5 (36)

Bairstow appears perplexed. The ball falls on a fuller length near the middle, and Bairstow plays for the angle while half-forward to block. However, the ball spins away, beating the outside edge and hitting the top of the fence. The half-ton partnership has been dissolved. Crucial breakthrough as runs were falling in quite easily and Bairstow seemed in fantastic form. 

ENG - 121/4 (33)

Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow have set their eyes and now both batters are taking their time to score runs. After Lunch break, Bairstow took a single off Patel's bowl and completed the fifty-run partnership between the two. India are still searching for their next wicket.

ENG - 116/3 (30)

Jonny Bairstow and Joe Root saved England from further loss of wickets as both batters played diligently and remained unbeaten on Lunch break on the first day of the first Test. Jadeja and Ashwin took the early wickets and Axar also came in handy and created pressure but the veteran batters soaked all the pressure. The first session was shared but India gained an edge by taking three wickets.

ENG - 108/3 (28)

Jonny Bairstow played his natural game to start his innings and hit boundaries along with singles and doubles in between. Root, on the other hand, has taken the conventional route and is only punishing the bad balls. Axar Patel was introduced into the attack and he also created some events but none came in favour of India. As the Day's play approaches towards Lunch, India will be eyeing another wicket before that.

ENG - 99/3 (25)

Crawley, who was playing the spin comfortably, tried to play in the air. Siraj went to the ball and dived to take the catch. Crawley stood at his ground as he was sure if the catch was legal. Umpire Marais Erasmus played many replays and finally gave the result in India's favour. England are three down. Jonny Bairstow is the new batter at the crease.

ENG - 61/3 (16)

10:40 PM: Jadeja Removes Pope!

Ravindra Jadeja traps Ollie Pope as he pushes forward with tight hands. The ball took a thick edge and went at the slips where Rohit Sharma took a front-diving catch. Pope stood there in amazement but the Umpires saw the replay and it was a clear catch. Jadeja also asked for a review against Root and it was an inside edge and India lost their first review.

ENG - 60/2 (15)

Spinners came into play in the 9th over with Ravindra Jadeja. Ravichandran Ashwin started the next over from the other end. It took just four overs to build pressure and get the first wicket of England. Ben Duckett was not able to bat the ball and it hit right on his pad. Umpire Chris Gaffaney gave him out but he sent it upstairs and it was umpire's call. Ollie Pope is the new batter at the crease.

ENG - 55/1 (12)

England openers Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett give a flying start after hitting five boundaries in the first four overs. Bumrah delivered a good first over. Siraj came into the attack in the second over and was welcomed with two back-to-back fours. Duckett hit Bumrah for back-to-back fours in the following over. Siraj conceded one more boundary in the next over. Bumrah finally bowled one-run over against Duckett in the fifth over.

ENG - 26/0 (5)

England's openers Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett opened the batting with right and left combination. Indian fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah opened the bowling attack and the first ball was right on the money. No run.  Crawley took a single on the fifth delivery and Duckett defenced the final delivery successfully.

ENG - 1/0 (1)

England have won the toss and have opted to bat

Teams:

India (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma(c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Ravindra Jadeja, Srikar Bharat(w), Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj

England (Playing XI): Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes(c), Ben Foakes(w), Rehan Ahmed, Tom Hartley, Mark Wood, Jack Leach

9:00 PM: What Captains Said

Ben Stokes | England Captain: We are going to have a bat. It's typical of Indian conditions to not know what you're going to get. We'll aim to put a high score on the board. The preparation has been quite good. We understand the challenge that India provides not only to us but to every team that comes here. They are a very successful side. We have Hartley making his debut and Rehan playing his second Test, but they have a fantastic leader in Jack Leach to guide them. I have complete faith in everyone. We chose an XI that we believe would offer us the best chance of victory. Woody is the X-Factor bowler.

Rohit Sharma | India Captain: We'd have batted as well. Looks dry. Whether we bowl or bat first, we have the ability and the players to accomplish the job for us. Hopefully, we can do well. A good series and I am playing for the first time, with five Test matches. The boys are thrilled. It will be tough, but we are prepared. We've played under these conditions previously. We know what to anticipate and what we need to accomplish; it's all about using your abilities, believing in yourself, and being bold enough to seize the chance. We have three spinners and two seamers: Bumrah, Siraj, Axar, Ashwin, and Jadeja. It was a difficult decision to leave out Kuldeep Yadav, and we considered it carefully. Axar has performed admirably in all of his previous games and bats exceptionally effectively in these conditions. He had a great score the previous time we played against Australia. Probably the reason we chose Axar.

This is a three-part pitch. It has extremely dry edges near the bat. This pitch is noticeably drier. It's about to turn. The middle of the surface, the second section, has an equal layer of grass, but it is dry below. Dry areas in the centre of the wicket. On the other side of the wicket, there is a less dry region closer to the bat. There will be a lot of spin. You won the toss and bat first. The spinners will come into action fairly shortly.