Indian pacers leave England reeling

India and England kickstarted the second edition of ICC World Test Championship (WTC) in the five-match Test series that began on Wednesday.

The Indian cricket team, currently placed at second position in ICC Test rankings faced the fourth ranked England.

On offer are a total of 60 WTC points, what with each Test win providing 12 points, six for a tie, and four for a draw.

Brilliant Bumrah, effective Shardul

Root won the toss and elected to bat against India.

However, some brilliant fast bowling, especially from Jasprit Bumrah saw England bowled out for 183 despite winning the toss and opting to bat. 

The 183 in 65.4 overs is the third-lowest total a team has managed against India on the first day of a Test match outside Asia.

As many as four English batsmen got out without scoring, a first for England against India in a Test innings on home soil.

Rory Burns, Dan Lawrence, Jos Buttler and Ollie Robinson were dismissed by Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami and Shardul Thakur for noughts.

Bumrah finished as the standout bowler for India with 4 wickets for 46 runs.

Shami bagged 3 for 28 and Shardul finished with 2 for 41 in just 13 overs.

Shardul Thakur was equally key, picking up the crucial wicket of England’s top scorer and captain Joe Root.

Root scored a fine 64 before Shardul trapped him in front.

Shardul also got rid of Dan Lawrence in the same over to help start a batting collapse.

England captain Joe Root was the only batsman who could deal with the pace and swing of the Indian speedsters.

As wickets tumbled, Sam Curran hit a brisk unbeaten 27 off 37 to give England some crucial runs down the order.

Jonny Bairstow (29) and Zak Crawley (27) were the only other contributors with the bat.

India rock steady

KL Rahul was drafted into the Indian side in place of the injured Shubman Gill.

Also, Mayank Agarwal had suffered a concussion two days before the match. 

India have opted for the sole spinner in Ravindra Jadeja.

The exclusion of Ravichandran Ashwin was a surprise. Ishant Sharma also missed out due to a minor fitness issue.

India reached 21 without losing a wicket in 13 overs by stumps on Day 1.

The opening pair of Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul batted with caution in the final hour of the final session as the ball was moving quite a bit.

The first session will be crucial in determining if India can press home their advantage.

India 21 for 0 trail England 183 (Root 64, Bumrah 4-46, Shami 3-28) by 162 runs