Gill tons up while Jaiswal contributes 87 as India take the honours on opening day

A masterful ton from skipper Shubman Gill under pressure, aided by an ebullient 87 from Yashasvi Jaiswal, ushered India to 310/5 on Day 1 of the second Test at Edgbaston. The captain led from the front with a mature knock of 114 not out, putting on a crucial partnership of 99 with Ravindra Jadeja (41*) to stabilize the visitors’ ship after a wobble in the evening.

In overcast conditions, an unchanged England sent India in. The visitors rang the changes on the flipside, drafting in both all-rounders Nitish Reddy and Washington Sundar to add batting depth, in place of Sai Sudharsan and Shardul Thakur, while Akash Deep replaced spearhead Jasprit Bumrah, who was afforded rest notwithstanding a week-long gap since the series opener in Leeds.

England’s new-ball merchants, Chris Woakes in particular, got the ball to hoop around and there was some steep bounce on offer early in the session but the hosts could only muster up a single strike. Sandwiched between two close lbw calls was Woakes’ reward for disciplined bowling. KL Rahul, iffy since the start of the innings, dragged one back onto his stumps.

Once Woakes was out of the attack, India’s second-wicket pair breathed a little easy. Nair latched onto a few half-volleys by Josh Tongue while Jaiswal grew in confidence in the second hour and heaped the misery on Tongue courtesy an array of drives.

England uncorked the short-ball ploy soon enough, and Jaiswal took on Tongue with horizontal bat shots on the leg side to fetch three consecutive boundaries in an over, completing his 11th Test half-century with the middle one. Six minutes before Lunch, Brydon Carse got one to jump at Nair and as he put his bat up to fend it, he spliced it to second slip where Harry Brook made no mistake.

Gill and Jaiswal fared well against the England attack for the first hour after the interval. The bowlers were keeping it tight, operating with a spread-out field to stem the flow of boundaries that the latter half of the morning session witnessed. The hosts reintroduced Woakes and Carse in tandem once again after Lunch, and even though the scoring rate was far from frenetic, the conditions had eased out for batting. While Gill remained vigilant at the start, Jaiswal was quite set by this point to let any freebies slide.