India slightly snuck into the country four weeks ago, dribs and drabs getting an A tour under way before the bulk of the first-teamers landed and began playing intra-squad cricket. The delayed finish to the Indian Premier League commanded eyeballs, then the World Test Championship final last week. All told, it was a soft launch.
But on day one of this summer’s marquee series, the tourists announced their arrival with a flex of the muscles and an eruption of runs. Sublime centuries from Yashasvi Jaiswal (101) and Shubman Gill (127 not out) had driven England potty and taken India to 359 for three at stumps. Gill’s first outing as captain was an unqualified success – not least because the absence of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma barely got a mention.
A chastening start for Ben Stokes and his side after winning the toss, clearly, albeit not unfamiliar territory as regards their initial tormentor. Jaiswal racked up 712 runs against them in India last year and his image was practically burned on to their collective retinas at the end of a 4-1 thumping. Might the left-hander’s first Test match encounter with the Dukes ball see a change of fortune? The answer, it swiftly transpired, was no.
But then Jaiswal is a player who likes to make a good first impression, having made a century on debut in the Caribbean, one in his first Test in Australia, and now one on arrival in England. It was some knock, too – the first by an Asian opener at Headingley, no less – as the 23-year-old left diligently, cut ferociously and drove with panache.
Indeed, until Stokes castled him after tea with an inswinger that nipped away, Jaiswal’s chief concern was cramp in his forearms as he cruised into the 90s. Even then, despite a couple of delays with the physio and some obvious pain, he moved to 99 with a flurry of fours off Brydon Carse before a pinched single sealed Test century No 5.
While Jaiswal moved up through the gears – 96 balls for his half-century, just 48 more to double it – Gill started fast and then bedded in. At 5.44pm, as he caressed Josh Tongue through the covers for four, he became the first Indian since Kohli 11 years ago to make a century in his first innings as captain. Gill’s celebration, a punch of the air and an almighty roar, was in stark contrast to the serenity that got him there.
At the other end was his vice-captain, Rishabh Pant, who finished unbeaten on 65 in a stand worth 138 runs. This new-found responsibility had dampened none of the mischief either, Pant dancing down to Stokes second ball and clobbering him back over his head for four. In the final over, when thoughts might have turned to safety, Pant summed up the day as a whole by swatting Chris Woakes for six with a swivel pull.
This being Headingley, so often a scene of the absurd and a ground where the last six Tests have been won by the side who bowled first, England will refuse to believe they are snookered. By the same token, inviting a team to bat first under clear skies and then having them dominate all three sessions was clearly suboptimal. The air was soupy, the outfield fast, and England failed to locate the Headingley length.
Both captains wanted to bowl first, however, and the modern way – certainly the Stokes and Brendon McCullum way – is not always to do so with an eye on rolling a side cheaply. Against New Zealand at Trent Bridge three years ago, Stokes inserted, watched the tourists notch up 553, and England won by five wickets. India scored 418 at Edgbaston that same summer after being asked to bat first and lost by seven wickets.
Of greater concern was the fact that Stokes was the best of the quicks on show, not simply figures of two for 43 from 13 overs that showed his renewed hardiness but by way of obvious threat. Carse flickered on his home debut – his removal of KL Rahul before lunch came via a lazy waft – but Josh Tongue was scattergun. Woakes, tasked with leading the attack, found precious little movement and was ransacked.
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If there was one relative success among the frontliners it was probably Shoaib Bashir sending down 21 overs and, with a bit of drift but no turn, holding his own in the main. An economy of 3.1 sitting under the overall run-rate of 4.2 meant the off-spinner had performed the day-one holding role that many thought was beyond him.
But this was India’s day, the day their deep talent pool scotched the notion that two big-name retirements would leave two gaping holes. Things had looked ominous for England from pretty much the outset, too, India dominating the early exchanges and getting to within touching distance of lunch when Rahul’s error on 42 opened up an end.
The instant removal of Sai Sudharsan, strangled down leg off Stokes for a four-ball duck on debut, might have appeared a touch unfortunate as India walked off at 92 for two but there was clearly a plan behind it. Problem was, this was the only one that worked as Stokes ran through his usual playbook and Jaiswal and Gill were equal to all of it.
There were two chances to break their stand of 129 runs early. Jaiswal would have been lbw 43 when pinned by a yorker from Carse, only for a front-foot no-ball to stifle any appeal. And had Ollie Pope hit the stumps with a shy from midwicket, Gill would have been run out for just one. Both came, both went, and India have unquestionably arrived.
