ENG vs IND: 2nd Test – Indian openers rule the opening day of Lord’s Test
The second Test of the Pataudi Trophy went underway at the Lord’s Cricket Stadium in overcast conditions on August 12. Losing his eighth consecutive toss in England, Virat Kohli’s men were invited to bat first as both sides made changes. While India brought in Ishant Sharma in place of injured Shardul Thakur, England included Haseeb Hameed, Mark Wood and Moeen Ali in place of Zak Crawley, Stuart Broad and Dan Lawrence, respectively. On the back of a stellar unbeaten 127 from KL Rahul, India gained the upper hand, finishing the day at 276/3, looking set for a mammoth first-innings score.
Rahul-Rohit’s solid opening stand
In a gritty passage of play, the Indian openers saw off the new ball, with both James Anderson and Ollie Robinson bowling probing lines, testing both KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma equally. India crawled initially, scoring just 14 runs in the first 12 overs. However, the momentum shifted quickly with Sharma managing four boundaries off Sam Curran’s over.
Sharma ensured to convert his start into a score of substance, as he added alongside Rahul what was India’s first-century opening partnership since 2010 in a Test outside Asia. He seemed set for a century, although he inside-edged a ball from James Anderson that disturbed his stumps to end his 83-run knock. As long as Sharma was in, KL Rahul contently played the second fiddle, but once he was dismissed, Rahul took the responsibility on his shoulders and did the bulk of the scoring, notching up a century too.
Cheteshwar Pujara’s poor show continues
Billed as one of India’s most crucial cogs in the Test setup, Pujara has done very little in the last few months to justify his tag. Coming into the Lord’s Test, his previous nine scores read: 12*, 4, 15, 8, 17, 0,7, 21, 15. He added another single-digit score into that when he poked at a ball from James Anderson, which Jonny Bairstow gobbled at the third slip. Pujara was dismissed for 9 off 22, continuing his poor show in the longest format of the game, with his last three-digit score dating back to 2018-19.
