India's Jaiswal on the attack against England in second Test / Photo: Darren Staples - AFP
India's Jaiswal on the attack against England in second Test
Yashasvi Jaiswal once again took a toll of England's bowlers before the hosts hit back on the opening day of the second Test at Edgbaston on Wednesday.
India were 98-2 at lunch, having been held to 37-1 off 13 overs in the first hour after losing the toss.
The 23-year-old Jaiswal, fresh from a hundred in India'a five-wicket loss in the first Test of a five-match series at Headingley last week, was 62 not out after another sparkling innings.
But shortly before lunch, Karun Nair (31) was undone by a lifting delivery from the admirable Brydon Carse that lobbed gently to Harry Brook at second slip.
Nair's exit ended an entertaining partnership of 80 in 90 balls with Jaiswal.
Carse had miserly lunch figures of 1-14 in six overs, whereas fellow fast bowler Josh Tongue's six wicketless overs cost an expensive 42 runs.
England captain Ben Stokes, as he had done at Headingley, opted to field after winning the toss.
And although India started in Birmingham, they would still be conscious of the batting collapses that cost them dear at Headingley -- the tourists losing 7-41, after they had been 430-3 in the first innings, and 6-31, from 333-4, in the second.
KL Rahul, fresh from a second-innings hundred at Headingley, rarely looked comfortable Wednesday while taking 26 balls to score two runs in an innings that ended when he played on to Chris Woakes, on his Warwickshire home ground.
Carse kept things tight at the other end but there was a release of pressure when he was replaced by Josh Tongue, with Nair cover-driving the fast bowler for two consecutive boundaries.
And even with the field scattered before lunch, left-hander Jaiswal went to his fifty with another pair of consecutive boundaries off Tongue, a hook followed by a rasping cut.
It took Jaiswal a mere 59 balls to reach the landmark, with 40 of his runs coming in fours.
The most eye-catching change to the India team saw Jasprit Bumrah rested after it was announced before the series he would only feature in three of the five Tests in order to protect his fitness following a back injury.
The third Test at Lord's starts just four days after the scheduled end of the game in Birmingham.
Akash Deep was given the unenviable task of replacing Bumrah, the world's number one-ranked Test bowler.
F.Pathak--MT
