Credit: ICC
Team India have started their five-match Test campaign in England with the ongoing game in Leeds. Winning the toss, England captain Ben Stokes invited India to bat first. India, who have been playing their first Test after the retirement of their legends Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, are likely to see their captain Shubman Gill bat at number four. Gill’s responsibility will be to be efficient in the middle-order, where batting maestros such as Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar produced impactful knocks for India for several years. Following Virat’s retirement, his fans were asserting that the England-India Test series might not witness the presence of crowd at stadiums due to the star player’s retirement.
However, scenes from the first Test at Leeds reveal that a large crowd has amassed to relish the contest between both teams. India are getting fine support from the spectators at the venue. Noting such a huge crowd, several Team India supporters are taunting Virat Kohli fans for claiming that the England-India series won’t attract spectators following the Test retirement of the 36-year-old. An X user named Anshuman wrote, “Without Virat Test is nothing. No one will be interested. Test Cricket is nothing without Virat Kohli. All these jokes are put to an end by the crowd. As Ashwin said no one is bigger than the game. #ENGvsIND.”
India lose two quick wickets after a steady start
Batting first, Team India openers Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul started the innings confidently. Both stitched a 91-run opening stand. Brydon Carse delivered the first breakthrough to England as KL Rahul, while attempting to play a stroke through covers, got caught at the slips by Joe Root.
Following Rahul, debutant Sai Sudharsan also lost his wicket on a duck. The left-handed batter failed to tackle Ben Stokes’ challenge. After the conclusion of the first session, India are 92/2 in 25.4 overs, with Jaiswal at the crease with an unbeaten 42 off 74.
