The five-match Test series between India and England kicked-off on Friday with the first match at Headingley in Leeds. After losing the toss, Shubman Gill & Co. were invited to bat first by the hosts. India openers Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul provided a strong start to the Men in Blue by forming a great partnership. They didn't panic and edge deliveries straight down to the slips, playing controlled shots and pouncing on loose balls.
Former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar, who was present in the commentary box during the first session of the day, praised the duo for not trying to poke deliveries that were pitching outiside their offf-stump. However, while doing so, Manjrekar also took an indirect dig on Virat Kohli, who announced his retirement from the format last month.
Kohli had a known weakness in Test cricket
Notably, Kohli was dismissed on a total of eight occasions while trying to play the deliveries that were pitching outside his off-stump during the Border-Gavaskar series 2024/25 against Australia. This weakness haunted Kohli throughout his career and it saw him get dismissed on numerous occasions especially in Test cricket.
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"Deliveries outside the off stump, full, have been left alone. Jaiswal has done that. Anything that has been pitched right up into the stumps, he has driven. Anything that has been wide, he has looked to score on. KL Rahul has not touched one delivery or attempted to play one single delivery that's been full, just outside off. Anything that has been wide, he has gone with a covered drive," Manjrekar said while commentating during Day 1.
"So a lot of what you're seeing is being created by these two batters, and my hat's off to them. We know of a former batter who would have gone after that delivery and got himself into trouble. But not these two," he added.
Coming to the match, Jaiswal and Rahul's partnership would eventually come to an end after piling 91 runs as the latter would be dismissed for 42. Debutant Sai Sudharsan failed to trouble the scores as Ben Stokes sent him back to the pavilion for a four-ball duck. Following this, Jaiswal went on to form a stunning partnership with skipper Shubman Gill during the second session of the day.
While Gill went on to score a gritty half-century, Jaiswal became the first left-handed opener from India to score a century on English soil in the longest format. This century came just a few deliveries before the end of the second session and left India on 215/2 with Jaiswal unbeaten on 100 and Gill batting on 58.