London: India were 21 for no loss at stumps after bowling out England for 183 on the opening day of the first Test here on Wednesday.Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul were batting on 9 runs each at the close of play as India reduced the deficit by 162 runs in their first innings.
Earlier, having reached tea at 138 for four, England lost their remaining six wickets for just 45 runs in the day’s third and final session. Skipper Joe Root made 64 off 108 balls, even as the others failed miserably to stand up to the Indian pace bowling attack. For the visitors, Jasprit Bumrah picked up four wickets for 46 runs, Mohammed Shami had 3/28, while Shardul Thakur bagged 2/41.
England scored 77 runs in 25.2 overs bowled in the afternoon session for the loss of two wickets, after scoring 61 in the first session.
The pitch had enough for the pacers in the first hour of play with the ball swinging and seaming around.
With India going in with four pacers, Shardul Thakur came into the side but the one spinner picked was Ravindra Jadeja, who didn’t bowl in the first session. Dropping premier spinner R Ashwin was a big call as he had been well prepared for the series opener with his preparation including a county game.
About India’s bowling, Shradul, said, ‘It was cloudy for a while and I was really happy that we got 10 wickets. If you see he (Root) had played a few balls and he was playing really well and looked poised for a big score. At that period, getting him out was crucial for us and we got him. Really happy (on getting Root’s wicket). One of the top batters in the world, whether you get him in the 60s or 90s it’s always a good wicket to have. If you look at the pitch it looked like it won’t spin much and felt better to go with 4 pacers and one spinner combination. Enjoying the English conditions, it’s swinging and hopefully it will stay the same. We got good pitches to practice in Durham and really enjoyed the conditions there. Since he retired, why not bring him back into the game (On coach Ravi Shastri calling him Beefy)’.