Team India captain Shubman Gill didn’t miss the chance to throw a cheeky jab at England batters on Day 1 of the Ind vs Eng 3rd Test. As England struggled to maintain their aggressive ‘Bazball’ tempo, Gill sarcastically said “No more entertaining cricket. Welcome back to the boring Test cricket, boys.”.
England frustated on Day 1 by Indian bowlers
England, who resumed at 83/2 after lunch on Day 1 were pegged back by a relentless Indian bowling unit that offered very little room to score freely. Between overs 27 and 32, England managed just two runs, enduring a frustrating stretch of 29 consecutive dot balls a far cry from the fast-paced approach they've championed under Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum.
The hosts took 35.4 overs to reach the 100-run mark their second-slowest century stand in the Bazball era. The only slower instance came earlier this year in Rajkot, where England reached three figures in 37.2 overs also against India.
England eye big score as Joe Root approaches century
Stokes opted to bat first after winning the toss, bringing in Jofra Archer for Josh Tongue. India, meanwhile, handed Jasprit Bumrah a return to the XI, replacing Prasidh Krishna.
India’s pace attack began tightly, though the early wickets came courtesy of Nitish Kumar Reddy. The young all-rounder removed both openers Ben Duckett (23) and Zak Crawley (18) in the 14th over, putting England on the back foot at 47/2.
Joe Root and Ollie Pope then took charge, steering England to 83/2 at lunch after 25 overs. But any hopes of accelerating in the second session were quickly dashed as India’s bowlers turned the screws by bowling tight lines and refusing to offer freebies.
By tea, England had moved cautiously to 153/2 after 49 overs, with Root unbeaten on 54 and Pope solid on 44. The hosts added only 70 runs in 24 overs in that session, scoring at a modest 2.92 runs per over. Root who is currently stranded on 99 will look to complete his century.
