Jaiswal puts India on firm saddle in first innings, hosts India post 119

After spinners put England batters through a harsh scrutiny Yashasvi Jaiswal rolled out his own version of Bazball en route to a crushing fifty as India posted 119 for one to take the upper hand on day one of the opening Test of the IND vs ENG 1st Teston ThursdayAt close Jaiswal 76 batting 70 balls 9x4 3x6 and Shubman Gill 14 batting were at the crease and the hosts are 127 runs in arrears of Englands anaemic first innings total of 246 which was built around skipper Ben Stokes hardheaded 88ball 70Around Stokes England batsmen crumbled as the spin troika of Ravichandran Ashwin 368 Ravindra Jadeja 388 and Axar Patel 233 rudely nudged them back to reality of batting on an Indian pitch that offers barrowful of turn and grip even from day oneBut when the Indian openers came out bat the RGI Stadium pitch appeared to have lost its bite and the England tweakers looked like a defanged lotJaiswal wrapped himself with the leaders cape despite the presence of his captain Rohit Sharma 24 27 balls at the other end tearing into England bowlers with gustoThe gap between runs and balls could give the lefthanders innings a hue of carelessness but it was anything but thatJaiswal started his and the teams innings with a clipped boundary to square leg off pacer Mark Wood but that was just the appetizer as the lefthander offered a harsh welcome to Tom Hartley to international cricketThe 22yearold smashed the England leftarm spinner for two sixes in his first over one over longon and the other in front of the squareHis twinkling feet and fast hands made it tough for the England spinners to settle into a rhythm against himAlso ReadWill lsquoBazballrsquo unleash its artistry in IndiaJaiswal and Rohit added 80 runs in just 121 overs to give their side a wonderful launching padIt came to an end when Rohit gave a catch to Stokes off leftarm spinner Jack Leach while trying to clear him over the longonBut for the rest of the innings it was a futile toil for the English bowlers as this could be the beginning of a long and tiring tour for themTo make it even more exasperating for them they have already exhausted all the three reviews for this innings as wellHowever the whole atmosphere was different when the Indian spinners were operating iquest the ball bounced turned and gripped to leave the English batters an edgy group except a few small passagesOne of them came in the postlunch session when Joe Root 29 60 balls and Jonny Bairstow 37 58 balls added 61 runs for the fourthwicket as England attempted to stay above the fastrising waterRoot and Bairstow generally relied on sweep and the reverse avatar of that shot occasionally to gather runs However Root was culpable of being too premeditative and it eventually led to his downfallJadeja hit a fuller length which resulted in a topedge off Roots bat that flew to short fine leg where Jasprit Bumrah did not have to strain himself much to complete the catchBairstow too did not last long as Axar delivered a peach from wide of the crease to take out the batters offstumpBen Foakes has this reputation of being a fine player of spin but on this day only struggle was visible as he departed with a 24ball four offering a simple catch to stumper KS Bharat off Axar as England lost five wickets in that session for 107 runsIt was left to captain Stokes who employed conventional and non conventional sweeps to counter spin to wage a lonely battle in the company of tailenders and even looked solid during his stay in the middleBut then on dire occasions like the one England encountered here even a lionhearted warrior like Stokes could only add a modicum of respectability to the totalAfter a sedate beginning Stokes slipped into his own and played some dazzling shots before Bumrah disturbed his stumps His innings contained six fours and three sixesIn the morning session England might have daydreamed of another buccaneering effort after openers Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley made 25 runs in the first four overs which later swelled to 55 in 115 oversBut Ashwin underlined his mastery over lefthanders for a zillionth time while dismissing DuckettThe 37yearold managed to skid one on to beat Ducketts defence to hit his pads as the latter played for nonexistent turnUmpire Chris Gaffaney did not have to think twice before raising his finger and even a review could not save DuckettThe Indian spinners rushed through that creek to dismantle the England innings as India tightened the grip over the proceedings With agency inputs