Rishabh Pant hit a counter-attacking 146 off 111 balls as India made a strong fightback against England to post 338 for seven on Day 1 of the ongoing fifth Test at Edgbaston in Birmingham. India were reeling at 98 for five when Pant and Jadeja came to the rescue act and stitched 222 runs for the sixth wicket. While Pant eventually lost his wicket to Joe Root, Jadeja remained unbeaten on 83 before stumps were called on Day 1.
Earlier, James Anderson and Matthew Potts had kept India under the pump by taking three and two wickets, respectively, after England captain Ben Stokes won the toss and opted to bowl in the match. Jadeja got the nod ahead of Ravichandran Ashwin for the game. On the other hand, Cheteshwar Pujara opened the batting for India in the absence of Rohit Sharma but scored just 13 runs before becoming the victim of James Anderson. Meanwhile, Virat Kohli’s poor form continued as he scored 11 runs before losing his wicket to Matty Potts. Notably, Jasprit Bumrah leads the Indian side after Rohit Sharma tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday once again. England are in red-hot form as they defeated New Zealand 3-0 recently by playing an attacking brand of cricket under Ben Stokes.
Pant brought his ton on the 89th delivery of his innings, continuing on his impressive form in the longest format of the game. Pant has slammed 50+ scores in all of his last four Tests; in the ongoing Test in Edgbaston, Pant stabilised the Indian innings after a flurry of wickets during the opening two sessions.
Pant smashed 15 fours and 1 sixes during an entertaining innings at Edgbaston, as he reached the three-figure mark in the 58th over. This is Pant’s third Test century against England; his first ton against the side came in only his third Test match in 2018 at The Oval. Last year, Pant breached the three-figure mark against England in Ahmedabad, scoring 101 off 118 deliveries.