England were in a hurry in Hyderabad on Thursday. Captain Ben Stokes won the toss and elected to bat first in the first Test against India. High on 'Bazball', the Three Lions raced to 50 in quick time, in just 66 balls. But the innings eventually folded in 64.3 overs, for a first innings total of 246 all out. (Scorecard | Streaming)
India responded in kind. The hosts, powered by Yashasvi Jaiswal's unbeaten 76 off 70, reached 119/1 in 23 overs at the close of play on Day 1. At stumps, England's lead was reduced to 127. The day belonged to India.
In their bid to make early inroads into the Indian batting line-up, England tried all sorts of things, including taking rather, of course without success. The only India batter to get out was Rohit Sharma (24 off 27), caught by his opposite number off Jack Leach in the 13th over. Clean catch at mid-on, and no intervention required.
But by the 13.2 over, six balls after the fall of India's captain, England had burnt all their available three reviews - an unwanted record, beating the Jason Holder-led West Indies's 16.1 overs against England in Manchester in 2020.
England first opted for the Decision Review System (DRS) in the third over, against Jaiswal for a catch down leg by wicketkeeper Ben Foakes off Mark Wood. Umpire Paul Reiffel ruled it not out, and the appeal was rendered unsuccessful after replays.
ALSO READ: Jaiswal Shows England How To Play 'Bazball'
The second one happened in the 12th over, debutant Tom Hartley managed to convince skipper Stokes to take the review for a caught behind as Rohit Sharma left the ball. Chris Gaffaney was unmoved, and the replays showed a big gap between bat and ball to be judged an outside edge.
In the 14th over, Hartley the 24-year-old left-arm spinner thought he had trapped Shubman Gill in front. Ball tracking showed the bounce doing a bit, missing the top of the leg stump. Gaffaney was once again vindicated.
And that's not all. Earlier in the day, England opener Ben Duckett wasted the first review of the match when he unsuccessfully tried to change Gaffaney's decision, an LBW which gave Ravichandran Ashwin the first of his three wickets in the innings.
During the England first innings, India also used up all their reviews, with the first one coming in the 15th over -- Ravindra Jadeja to Joe Root and Reiffel in charge; and the last one in the 62nd over -- Ashwin to Mark Wood with Gaffaney in charge. In between, Jadeja also managed to convince Rohit to signal 'T' in the 57th over against Stokes. Reiffel was right.
