2nd Test: KL Rahul ton puts India on top

Joe Root won the toss and surprisingly elected to field on a Lord’s pitch that looked ideal for batting.

By the end of the day, it is likely that Root was regretting his decision.

The Indian cricket team managed to reach a comfortable position putting on 276 for the loss of just 3 wickets.

There was a delayed start owing to the rain.

However, the Indian openers didn’t let this affect them as they put on a crackling partnership.

Openers showed patience

Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul batted sensibly as if there was a plan in place.

Anderson and Robinson, the English bowling pair bowled the right line and created a lot of chances.

But the openers negotiated the new ball well and took their time.

The batters didn’t take any chances and were patient.

Once they settled down and Anderson was off the attack, the runs came easily.

England were clearly desperate for an early breakthrough but grew frustrated by the lack of success.

Eventually, the openers shared a 126-run stand which laid a solid foundation.

Rohit gets into the groove

Rohit watched the ball carefully and once his eyes were set, he gave a sound display of quality batting.

Rohit hit 83 from 145 balls, hitting 11 fours and a six.

He was ruthless against Sam Curran, smashing him for 16 runs in an over.

KL Rahul looked determined to book a permanent place in the team.

He bided his time and consumed 248 balls while scoring a brilliant century (127 not out).

Pujara fails again

It’s increasingly hard to justify Pujara’s place in the Test team as he failed yet again.

Since getting a 72-run knock against England in Chennai earlier this year, Pujara has struggled to make an impact.

Since then, his scores have been 15, 21, 7, 0, 17, 8, 15, 4, 12*, and 9.

Pujara poked at a ball that should have been left alone and ended up snicking it to Bairstow.

Anderson delivers

Veteran England pacer James Anderson was among the wickets once again.

He got the prized scalp of Rohit after bowling a beauty.

Anderson used his experience and his seam positioning to produce a ball with late inward movement that bowled Rohit Sharma.

And then, just 5 overs later, Anderson got Pujara to edge the ball.

He ended the day with 2 wickets for 52 runs and was the pick of the bowlers.

Anderson’s tally reads 623 wickets, and 124 of those have come against India.

Kohli loses out on half century

Indian skipper Virat Kohli looked good at the crease and rotated the strike well.

He shared a 117-run stand alongside Rahul for the third wicket.

However, Kohli was dismissed (42) by Robinson, chasing a wide delivery.

Besides Anderson and Ollie Robinson, the English attack looked toothless.

Mark Wood, Sam Curran, and Moeen Ali were ineffective and it seems that England will struggle to cope with the absence of mainline bowlers like Woakes, Broad and Jofra Archer.

India 276 for 3 (Rahul 127*, Rohit 83, Anderson 2-52) vs England