Sai Sudharsan departs for duck on debut match, India 92/2 at lunch

New Delhi: England struck just before lunch on Day 1 of the first Test, dismissing KL Rahul (42) and debutant B Sai Sudharsan for duck.

India are now 92/2 after 25.4 overs, with Yashasvi Jaiswal approaching his half-century, with Shubman Gill to join him at the crease.

Stokes’ decision to bowl first might have stemmed from the transformed nature of Headingley track which has become a batter’s ally in the last decade, and that character was visible in the first session of the match itself.

There was a hint of movement and swing for the pacers, but the Indian openers were well up to the task on a largely sunny morning.

An England attack that did not have either James Anderson or Stuart Broad in its roster did not seem to have the ammunition to trouble the Indian batters on a rather flaccid pitch.

The unit consisting of Stokes himself, Brydon Carse, Josh Tongue and Chris Woakes either bowled too full for Rahul and Jaiswal to bring out their drives, or were on pads for the batters to milk them for some easy singles.

The England camp might just have mentally revisited the days when Anderson or Broad restricted the rival batters on such dry days with impeccable line and length, but those days have firmly passed, as the Indian batters received ample scoring opportunities.

Jaiswal began the morning with a gorgeous drive through mid-off off Woakes, and Rahul played a series of exquisite drives through covers off Carse and Tongue as the first session produced an astounding 16 fours altogether.

There were a couple of play and miss by Jaiswal and a cheeky shot over slips by Rahul off Stokes, but those were mere aberrations.

Jaiswal’s effort will particularly please the Indian management because the left-hander failed to impress in the pre-tour games while playing for India A against the England Lions recently, often getting out in the channel outside.

But here, Jaiswal showed admirable restraint while dealing with the ball in the traditional corridor of doubt.

Rahul, who got his opening slot back after the retirement of Rohit Sharma, was in his usual sturdy self, showing fine judgment and technical nous, until he fatally decided to play a loose drive off Carse for Joe Root to take a catch at slip.

Root (209) is now just one catch away from equalling former Indian skipper Rahul Dravid’s record of 210 catches in Test cricket.

This match marks the beginning of a new era for Indian cricket under Shubman Gill's captaincy and the start of the 2025-27 World Test Championship cycle for both England and India.

India is also searching for their first Test series win on English shores since 2007.

England captain Ben Stokes won the toss and elected to bowl against India in the opening Test of the five-match series for the newly-minted Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy, here on Friday.

India handed Test debut to left-handed batter B Sai Sudharsan while seasoned middle-order batter Karun Nair came back into the playing XI along with all-rounder Shardul Thakur.

Teams

India: Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, B Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill (c), Rishabh Pant (wk), Karun Nair, Shardul Thakur, Ravindra Jadeja, Prasidh Krishna, Mohammed Siraj, Jasprit Bumrah.

England: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (c), Jamie Smith (wk), Chris Woakes, Brydon Carse, Josh Tongue, Shoaib Bashir.