Jaiswal century defies England as young spin duo claim crucial Indian wickets

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It was a day when two generations collided by the sea and age became redundant. It ended with England in the stronger position and another gripping match promising to unfold.
Yashasvi Jaiswal for India and Shoaib Bashir and Rehan Ahmed for England are young enough to be James Anderson’s children. You can imagine him rolling his eyes at them for spending too much time on TikTok or wondering why the hell they are listening to such terrible music.
But Test cricket is a sport for all sorts and each player had their moments on a fascinating first day in Visakhapatnam. After the dust of Hyderabad, Vizag is humid and stickier but a late afternoon sea breeze provided cool relief and three final session wickets boosted some red-faced Englishmen, especially with a new ball due after a night’s rest for Anderson.
At 336 for six and with 400 feeling like a starting point for a par score, India are in danger of undoing the fine work of Jaiswal, whose magnificent 179 from 279 balls, made up of 17 fours and five sixes, screamed his arrival as a Test player and made up for the loss of more illustrious names.
He was the only player to stay in and see the job through with the others contributing 156 for six – with one extra – making the same errors that cost India the match in Hyderabad. England must exploit them on day two.
With Bashir and Ahmed sharing four wickets, England’s young attack had a good day on a belter of a batting pitch after Ben Stokes lost the toss. It must have had Anderson rolling his eyes at his luck but he called on all his experience to give the control Stokes lacked in Hyderabad, bowling four spells and never let his standards slip. He deserved better than one for 30 from 17 overs of probing seam.
Bashir’s maturity at just 20 and level head on debut in only his seventh first-class match shone through and was rewarded with the maiden Test wicket of Rohit Sharma. His celebration was just as vociferous as Jaiswal’s for his hundred as the energy of youth crackled through the day.
Ahmed was perhaps fortunate and leaked runs but these were tough conditions for young spinners with little experience. Bashir toiled away and looks to have the tools with his height, bounce and variation on the crease creating angles that on a cracked pitch later in the game will make him dangerous.
Bashir was the best bowler behind Anderson who was irrepressible as he looked better than at any stage during the Ashes. It is the benefit of being fully fit and prepared. Anderson started the Australia series with a groin strain and never looked happy. He was worried for his England future too and reworked his run up, a sign that at 41 he still cares immensely about playing for his country.
He must have been nervous knowing many are ready to pounce on his age and his most expensive over was his first as he struggled with his line but it did not take long for muscle memory to kick in and the radar to find its target.
Jaiswal is just 22 and playing in only his sixth Test but his promise has been clear from a young age. He is a modern day, all format player who opens with Jos Buttler in the IPL, will surely break through into the 50 overs team in the post-World Cup rebuild and can now settle in for a long run in Test cricket.
He is the only India batsman to really go after England in this series and this was a Bollywood innings of high-class strokeplay blended with deference to the wiles of Anderson, the old man the only one to keep him quiet.
Jaiswal’s story is one of those fairytales that Indian cricket produces. He moved to Mumbai aged 10 from Uttar Pradesh to join a cricket academy with stars in his eyes and dreams in his head of stardom. He was given a place to live in a dairy shop in return for working shifts but was turfed out because he was absent so often playing cricket. He ended up sleeping in the groundsman’s tent on the Azad Maidan for three years and sold the street food snack panipuri for pocketmoney before his cricket coach became his legal guardian and his potential began to shine through.
Jaiswal dominated the under-19s World Cup in 2020, was soon picked up by Rajasthan Royals in the IPL for £300,000 and last year made the fastest fifty in the tournament’s history, off just 13 balls. He cracked a hundred on Test debut in the Caribbean last summer and this was his sixth score above 150 in first-class cricket.
His only chance was a tough catch at slip on 73 that flew past Joe Root at high pace. Apart from that and a leading edge off Bashir, he was in control and unfurled three superb sixes over extra cover and also unfurled a sweep or two, the only India batsman to look happy playing it.
Rohit lacked the intent of his junior partner and missed out on several boundaries, determined to put his head down and give India a good start. But he clipped Bashir to leg slip and when Shubman Gill was outsmarted by Anderson and nicked behind, England had enjoyed the better morning.
Several times Jaiswal soaked up pressure before scoring in spurts. He hit four fours in six balls, including the edge that evaded Root at slip, and reached his hundred by smashing Hartley into the stands over long on, blowing kisses to the crowd.
Shreyas Iyer underedged Hartley with Ben Foakes taking an excellent low catch, debutant Rajit Patidar looked very accomplished before Ahmed put a bit more top spin on the ball and he played on.
Jaiswal saw off Anderson’s six-over spell in the evening and at 301 for four, and the day reaching the final half hour, Jaiswal had given his team a good cushion but two poor cuts cost India badly. Axar Patel hit Bashir to backward point and Srikar Bharat gifted a catch off an Ahmed wide ball. England walked off back slapping each other, deserved praise for a day’s toil.
“He just had a little throwback to when I got into the team at Somerset and he just said how proud they all are of me and my family. I’ve spent a lot of time with Leachy and for him to present me with my cap was very, very special.”
“It was a tough pitch to bowl on. It didn’t offer too much. I thought the way the boys went about it was awesome and for us to pick up six wickets and to pick up that late wicket of KS Bharat was massive.”
“In the huddle he just said to go out there and enjoy it and remember why you started playing the game and you’ve got nothing to lose. That gave me so much confidence going in. I’ve been around the guys for a while now and they are so supportive and welcoming and that gets the best out of you. It has been amazing.”
“That was my highlight! He is such a good player of spin and to get his wicket as my first is very, very awesome.”
“I want to thank my family and God first, they’ve supported me throughout my journey and I’ve had a lot of ups and downs. To make my debut is very special, it is something you dream of as a kid and I’m just so grateful.”
“I had in my mind that i had to play session by session and if they are bowling well that I play that spell and that was how I went about it.
“Initially the wicket was a little damp and there was spin and bounce and the ball was seaming a bit but I was thinking about getting through and then converting the loose ball at the moment.
“The pitch played differently throughout the day, as the ball got older and older there was spin and bounce.
“I would love to double it up and I’ll be trying to just keep going and play till the end for my team. I will go and recover properly for tomorrow.”
They plugged away on a difficult pitch and got reward in the end. Anderson was unerringly excellent with 1-30 off 17. Bashir and Rehan picked up a couple of wickets each, with one for Hartley. Root the only wicketless bowler. 
Rehan will bowl the 93rd and final over of the day. A bit of spin and bounce finds the edge of Ashwin first ball but it’s no run and no chance, either. He then gets four to take his score to five. A bit of a conversation between Ashwin and umpire Marais Erasmus. Over what, I do not know. But that is the end of the day. Star of the day is Jaiswal who ends it unbeaten on 169. 
That has put a better complexion on England’s day which I think was pretty decent all things considered. As I said earlier, 330/6 or seven does not look that formidable. India could, had they avoided the soft wickets, could have been three or four down. Of course cricket doesn’t work like that but the two in the last 45 minutes or so have shifted the game towards England. 
Ashwin gets off the mark and England have perhaps one more over to bowl today. 
I can’t remember this happening too many times in my time watching Test cricket but the mythical “minimum of 90 overs to be bowled” have been reached, meaning we will exceed the 90. Probably time for two or three more I think. Good for England, I think. Chance for Rehan or Bashir to get another wicket. 
And Rehan does! It’s Bharat’s turn to get out softly. Almost a mirror image of Axar a few minutes ago. He slaps Rehan to point and it’s Bashir who takes the catch off Rehan’s bowling, returning the favour. 
𝗔𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 gimme and a second for Rehan Ahmed 🔥#INDvENG pic.twitter.com/tarLvK3wfK
FOW 330/6
Bharat’s turn to get the slog sweep out, this time against Bashir. Six for it! India just shifting pace a bit in the final few overs, edging the game slightly away from England. 
Short from Rehan and Axar rocks back and short-arm punches it out to the deep midwicket boundary for four. He hasn’t dropped short too often but it’s always a risk with a leggy. India pick up a decent haul of runs in Rehan’s 14th. 1, 4, 3, 0, and then 2 before Jaiswal gets the long handle out and launches Rehan back over his own head for six! He’s not batting for stumps exactly. 
Jaiswal knows he needs to go on to a big score. He has batted beautifully today. He has played the shots when they were there to be played but has paced his innings excellently. A few other starts but nobody else has passed 50. In fact, nobody has scored higher than Gill’s 34 – which shows the importance of this knock to India’s total. England will be happy with their work in this session. 
Bharat gets off the mark with a slightly unconvincing slog sweep for four off Bashir. It was well outside off and was a risk but he got away with it a little. 
Two wickets on day one of Test cricket for Shoaib Bashir. Well done. As I said earlier he has bowled pretty well today all things considered. Rehan’s over following Bashir’s wicket-taking over goes for just a single. 
That is the wicket England wanted, if not the batsman! Bashir drops a tad short and Axar rocks back and cuts but it’s in the air and straight to Rehan Ahmed at backward point to take a simple catch! Axar is not happy with what he’s done there. Not a good time to get out and not hitting it to the man in the field like that. 
FOW 301/5
“That’s an awful way for Axar Patel, who looks at least a place high at No 8, to fall, but reward for Shoaib Bashir, who has toiled away manfully today. It’s been an impressive debut.”
Rehan finishes his maiden over with a googly back into the left-hander Jaiswal. This is the sort of day that also illustrates the slight weakness England have without the bowling of Ben Stokes to call on. 
Still not a great deal in the pitch. The odd one keeps low. The 50 partnership comes up off 73 balls. It’s about the rate India have been scoring all day. Not lightning but quick enough. Soon after a single to Axar brings up the 300 for India. 
Seven overs left in the day. We should get them in but can England get another wicket? 
Out of nowhere Jaiswal goes for a huge heave! Tossed up outside off stump, turns a bit and he misses, no footwork and Foakes has the bails whipped off. They do check but he is well in with his back foot grounded so no second wicket for Bashir. 
No new ball but Rehan Ahmed returns for his 10th over, which goes for just two runs. Indian batsmen are having drinks not that long since we had the official drinks break. Why? Ben Foakes left the field I think, which explains why water was brought on. 
India have so far managed to build partnerships but none of them have really gone in. Jaiswal the anchor for the entire innings with a superb knock so far. 
Bashir induces a genuine edge from Jaiswal and again his cut shot flies at a rapid pace past Joe Root at first slip. It went hard and it’s not really a chance but a little bit of encouragement for Bashir who should be fairly pleased with his first day’s work. Took the wicket of Rohit, has occasionally threatened and looks a good prospect. 
I don’t think you can expect someone who has so little first-class experience to come in and be as controlling as Monty Panesar was on his debut but that does not mean it will not come. Five runs off Bashir’s 22nd over – a decent amount of work, four more overs than anyone else. 
Root has just dragged it down too often today and has not threatened really. He does so again and Axar punishes it, pulling out to deep midwicket for four. New ball available in one over…
“India have had relatively few left handed batsmen. Of them the three highest Test run scorers have been Gautam Gambhir, Sourav Ganguly and Ravi Jadeja. At this stage I’d guess that Yashasvi Jaiswal is going to be more complete and better than any of them.”
Everyone has bowled at least nine overs. 
Anderson 1.76Root 5.7Hartley 4.11Bashir 3.57Rehan 3.55
In other words: “a little leaky”. 
Debut man Shoaib Bashir returns and it’s a similar story unfortunately. Jaiswal punishing even the smallest error and he adds a few more to his total. He does turn one past the left-hander’s outside edge soon after before surprising him with a bit of bounce. The final drinks break is taken as we enter the last 60 minutes or so of the day. 12 overs to be bowled and England should get them in. 
Joe Root returns to the attack, James Anderson will take a rest – possibly for the rest of the day but let’s see. Jaiswal moves into the 150s as he leans into a cover drive off Root’s second ball and gets four runs for it. Root then drops short and Axar rocks back and pulls it through to deep midwicket… twice in a row. This is Stokes’ dilemma really. Only Anderson has genuinely restricted India. Everyone else has, to a greater or lesser degree, been a little wasteful. The sessions’ run-rate is creeping towards 3.5. 
Rehan drops short for once, it’s also a bit wide and Axar rocks back and pulls it for four. 2.76 the run rate in this session. James Anderson has helped England exert a bit more control since tea and Stokes should be pretty happy with how England have pulled it back. Rehan also instrumental in not letting India get away; taking a wicket. 
I don’t think England will be too disappointed with the current scoreline. I don’t think India will be, either. India probably edging marginally it but England have just kept taking a wicket here and there to keep themselves in it and India in check. The final hour or so of day one may well dictate if India manage a big score or just a respectable one. 
Axar gets off the mark after a delay. Anderson will continue. 
Again, just a single off Anderson’s latest over. Someone in the England team if “Jim is still going”. I wonder. Why not? Maybe one or two more? He and Rehan have been England’s most threatening and tightest bowlers. 
That gives England an opening here. Axar Patel is the man in at six and his Test average is good but not great for a No 6. No hundreds and he is often a little bit lower down in the order. They would dearly like Jaiswal but they will take whatever they get. Rehan gets one to keep low as Axar goes backwards to cut and he just keeps it out. A wicket maiden for Rehan. You do have to wonder why he wasn’t introduced before the 60th over…
A bit of a strange one here! Ahmed spins one in, it bounces a bit high on Patidar’s bat and then rolls back past the batsman’s pads and onto the stumps! Rehan has bowled well and he gets his reward. Good delivery, though. Patidar couldn’t divert the ball quickly enough and the bails were off before he knew it. Probably not fun to watch as a batsman when you thought you’d done the hard work. 
Rehan Ahmed breaks the resistance 👊Topspin on that 😮‍💨#INDvENG pic.twitter.com/2AxWHRbu7e
FOW 249/4
Again, Jaiswal is beaten by an Anderson ball that slides across him and he definitely did hang his bat out to play at this one. Anderson looks perturbed at it. It’s another Jimmy maiden. The over rate has understandably slowed since his introduction. 
 
I wouldn’t say necessarily Rehan is causing Jaiswal problems but he is giving him something to think about. Partnership runs to 70 with five off the over, all singles. He hasn’t gone for many boundaries has Rehan, though the finger-spinners had started to be thrashed about a bit. 
Patidar moves into the 30s as the pace of the game slows a little. Anderson not giving much away at all, as we have come to expect. 
Not many people in close for Rehan. Just a slip. Jaiswal – as he has done on a few occasions – has a thrash but doesn’t really get a hold of it, the ball scuttling along the ground for no run. Rehan spins one back in, into the small amount of rough but Jaiswal steps into it and lofts it into the air for six over wide mid off! A superb shot in a superb innings. A back-foot cut beats the man at backward point and runs to the boundary for four! Harsh to have 10 runs off a fairly good over but that is Test cricket. Good shots not so much bad balls. 
Anderson bowls a rare no ball, slightly overstepping. He gets the final ball to move back in, a single and the run from a no ball from it. 
Pretty good stuff from Rehan here. Hasn’t bowled many if any bad balls yet which is often the downfall of a young leg-spinner. It’s England’s finger-spinners who have been a bit too profligate today. 
Anyway, the five runs from this over takes the partnership to 53 off 92. 
James Anderson back into the attack for his 12th over. However many wickets England take in this session they will want to stem the flow of runs better than in the afternoon session and Anderson looks to be key to those aspirations. He starts well enough with a maiden. 
Rehan spins one sharply past the outside edge of Patidar, the right-hander. Decent nut. Two singles off the rest of the first over after tea. 
England will want at least a couple of wickets in this session. If India replicate the middle session they will end the day on around 350/4 which is a very good basis for getting 550. Three or four wickets for 100 or so runs, bowling a bit tighter, and that’s 325/6 or seven which does not feel quite so formidable given India’s longer tail. 
A magnificent century from Yashasvi Jaiswal saw India take control of the first day of the second Test.
Jaiswal took tea on 125 not out, having brought up his first Test century on home soil by smashing Tom Hartley down the ground for six. Before the ball crashed into the stands, Jaiswal had his helmet off as he began an elaborate and emotional celebration.
Hartley picked up England’s only wicket of the session, when the skittish Shreyas Iyer feathered an under edge through to Ben Foakes, who took a fine catch. That followed wickets for Shoaib Bashir and Jimmy Anderson in the morning session.
India are carefully building a formidable score, but England will be buoyed by the fact that the pitch, at this stage, is very good for batting. So far, their young attack have not had much joy, although Bashir has put in an encouraging display as perhaps England’s most left-field selection in recent memory.
Another promising partnership for India, 44 off 68 before the start of this over. Rehan has a single from his latest over before offie Bashir comes back on. Bashir has a shout for LBW on Patidar, pitching it in the in-between length as he prods forward. Possibly hit it but also doubt it was hitting the stumps, certainly enough to overturn the umpire’s call. Four balls and he changes angle to round the wicket for Patidar. I quite like that. You have to try different things when the wicket is as it is. Two runs from the over and that is tea. 
122 runs at a good rate and one wicket in the session. Jaiswal has played well; England have work to do. 
India looking good here. Still a long way to go in the first day but this is a fine platform, especially with Jaiswal well set on 125. 
Finally, Rehan Ahmed is introduced. England’s over rate is pretty good today, as it should be when most of the overs are bowled by the twirlymen. We should be at about 15 an over or a tick above. Patidar loops one up but it’s well out of the reach of the diminutive Rehan Ahmed. Tidy first over, three from it. 
“Rehan Ahmed into the attack for the first time today, for the 60th over, and a little spell before tea. Can the magician conjure something for England? He is a real luxury pick for England. No doubt a second seamer would have bowled more today, but come the second innings that might change.”
Patidar leanes into a full one from Bashir and thrashes it through the covers for four runs, nicely played young (okay, he’s 30…) man. Still no Rehan Ahmed, which I find a little strange. There must be a reason for it but I can’t really see it. It’s not like the current crop are bowling tight lines and restricting India. 
Patidar reverse sweeps Root for four, well on top of it and along the ground the whole way to the boundary. He then steps inside the ball and thrashes the ball wide of mid off for a superbly-timed four. Great wrists. Laxman was the wristy king. Is Patidar Laxmanesque?
One run of Bashir’s latest and then five singles off Root’s 11th over which takes India over the 200 mark. A little lull in the pace of play since the wicket, though 23 off 38 is still a decent lick for the early stages of a partnership. 
England have struggled for control outside of James Anderson. Jaiswal has played well but outside of that England have had some encouragement. India will be targeting 500 from here and doing it in good time would put them well in the game. Still, this is hardly the most formidable Indian batting line-up: you’d much rather have Ashwin at eight rather than seven, so Ben Stokes should not – and surely will not – get too downhearted. 
Just two singles off the 54th over. Rehan Ahmed anyone? Not Ben Stokes, at least not yet. 
Seven runs, all from Jaiswal, off Hartley’s latest. 73 off 17 and one wicket. No real control but can you really expect that from any of England’s spinners with their lack of experience?
“That brilliant catch by Ben Foakes is the difference between a good Test wicketkeeper and a top-class keeper. It’s all about staying down…”
Bashir is being given a long bowl (relatively) by Stokes here. But he is bowling a few too many loose balls as all of England’s spinners have done today. Six off his latest for figures of 1-56 off 15 overs. Anderson the only bowler with an economy rate below 3.5. 
Patidar gets off the mark sharpish, which is always a relief to a batsman on Test debut. 
England needed that! It ends a partnership of 90. Hartley bounds in and Shreyas steps back to cut but it keeps low and he bottom edges behind to Foakes who takes a very smart catch down low! Shreyas not in the game much, playing second fiddle to Jaiswal and perhaps he got a bit frustrated at that. In comes the debutant Patidar…
Tom Hartley strikes! 💥🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿#INDvENG pic.twitter.com/vU7xVu6YFD
FOW 179/3
Time for Rehan? Not yet…
Jaiswal moves to his hundred with a six! Lovely (but also brutal) shot over long on and this has been an equally lovely innings. He needs to go on and make a big one now. Starting to look tough out there for England now on a placid pitch. 
“This is where the inexperience of England’s spinners will be tested – not when the ball was turning in Hyderabad but on a flat pitch which requires a combination of patience and cunning. In their inexperience Hartley and Bashir might try too hard for the breakthrough.”
“India’s first hour after lunch, no question. Jaiswal taking control of the game by batting at a lovely tempo. Iyer looks nervous still but is building an innings. At this stage feels like England missed a trick not picking the second seamer. Hartley and Bashir have overpitched a few times too many and Jaiswal has not missed out on poor balls. The best bowler of the afternoon so far has been Jimmy Anderson. A half chance off Jaiswal edge to Root at slip when Hartley was bowling is as close as England managed to a wicket. It’s a flat pitch, and hot day. Conditions tougher than Hyderabad.”
Jaiswal moves to 94 with a single off Bashir. Is Rehan Ahmed warming up? Yes…
That’ll be drinks. India positioning themselves towards a decent total. 
“At times England missed James Anderson’s control in Hyderabad. His figures so far – 1-24 from 11 overs – have been textbook Anderson, and comfortably more economical than any of England’s other bowlers. At what point does Rehan Ahmed get a bowl? India, you suspect, will target him.”
Hmmm. India getting on top here. Bashir is too full this time and Jaiswal drives handsomely again for four! Into the 90s he moves. He raced through the 80s and will probably want to do the same to the next set of 10, understandably. Looks like he’s going to play his shots. Shreyas Iyer has not had much of the strike at all in the last 15-20 minutes. 
Ooh, is that a drop from Root? Technically, yes. Jaiswal goes back to push Hartley but outside edges it to slip Root’s left. He was moving slightly in the other direction and struggled to snap to where the ball was. He perhaps just got the smallest fingertip to it. Anyway, it runs to the boundary for four. 
No mistake from the next two, though as Hartley goes too full and an on-drive and a cover-drive get Jaiswal four and four more! A fine innings from Jaiswal, who keeps the strike with a single, so far. 
Shoaib Bashir returns to the attack for his 11th over. Not sure who has been the pick of the spinners so far. Anderson has probably been England’s best overall. Bashir has perhaps been the most consistent, delivery wise. 
 
Two singles off Hartley’s latest and that brings up the 50 for the partnership. Off 85 balls, too, so that makes it a tad over 3.5 runs an over. 
A loose ball at the end of Root’s over has a similar effect on his figures too. Jaiswal thrashes a six over extra cover…
Hartley ruins his over slightly by dropping short. Jaiswal rocks back and thrashes it through midwicket for four. A few of those today and it got what it deserved. Surely time for Rehan?
Root appeals for a nick behind. Foakes not so much. Did Shreyas hit this? Don’t know. Stokes decides not to review it. It was an attempted sweep with the ball miles outside leg but Stokes and Foakes were unconvinced. Not sure Root was 100 per cent certain and they would have wasted a review had they gone upstairs. Root round the wicket with his round-arm action but it landing it on leg or further over to the right-hander. A single off Root’s ninth over. 
 
Hartley is “doing an Ashwin” and threatens to run out the batter backing up, Shreyas Iyer. The second time he has given that a go. This partnership going along at a decent-ish rate, 35 off 61. The last one got to 49 before Gill departed. 
You cannot spell “Rotate bowlers” without “Root” and Stokes is at it again. Not sure if the spinners would prefer to be given longer spells or not. I would say “yes”, but I don’t think it is having a negative effect. Rehan Ahmed has not yet been called into action today, mind you. Without much in the surface I would be giving the wrist-spinner a bit of a go now. May as well give him a couple if you’re changing your bowlers every few overs. I’m not England captain though. Root gets hit for a few in his latest to take India past 120. 
 
Anderson beats the outside edge of Jaiswal once again. And again, angling across. I am not sure he is really “playing” all of them but he played that one for certain. It was only an inch or two away from the outside edge. Shreyas steps back and looks to uppercut a short one but can only bottom edge it down and it’s not far at all from clattering into the stumps. A foot or so maybe even less. He tries to do it again. 
A few hints that Anderson is returning to an old faithful with his Barnet Fair today. 
“Great fizz on that bud,” is the encouragement from Foakes to Hartley. The next ball is a bit of a mess but only after Hartley lets go of the ball. A slight miscommunication from the pair as Jaiswal is sent back but the throw at the stumps is awful and is deflected behind where it is not picked up cleanly either. India choose not to run, though. Hartley bowls his second maiden over. 
Three singles and then three dots off Anderson’s latest. He has now become the older seamer to appear in Test matches. Again, no demons in the pitch and India should be targeting a big score here. 
 
Stokes does what Stokes does and it’s just one over for Joe Root before moving to Tom Hartley’s slow left-arm spin. He has a catcher in at silly mid-off, a slip and a leg slip to the left-hander Jaiswal who is well set on 52 off 103 balls. Hartley comes over the wicket, so spinning the ball into the left-hander and from a fairly tight line here. He is round the wicket to the right-hander Shreyas. Pope then moves to silly point. 
Anderson has been his usual self here. The only seam bowler for England in this match you would expect he will get through more overs than Mark Wood’s 25 in Hyderabad. He gives away just a single from his ninth and latest over. 
“The trouble with being England’s sole seamer is that Ben Stokes rather likes the leg-trap field, and Shreyas Iyer plays the short ball poorly. So James Anderson, 41, is tasked with banging the ball in. Remarkable.”
Welcome back, Joe Root resumes for the first over after the interval. Four dots before Jaiswal pushes one out on the off-side for a single. Root drops a bit short and Shreyas pushes out on the on-side to sneak a single and retain the strike. 
Decent morning for England thanks to a combination of age and youth after losing the toss on a good batting pitch. England were excellent with their lines and lengths and Shoaib Bashir’s first Test wicket and James Anderson’s 691st was a tidy reward for a tight bowling performance.
Yashasvi Jaiswal’s fine touch continued with an unbeaten 50, he was the most positive of the Indian batsmen, but Anderson’s dismissal just before lunch of the struggling Shubman Gill ensured an even session.
Bashir’s maiden Test wicket, Rohit Sharma caught at leg slip, was an emotional moment for the 20 year-old, and just what he deserved after a nerveless start in Test cricket. Stokes admitted he had learned from his mistakes in the first Test by being too aggressive with his placings when Tom Hartley came on for the first time and he gave Bashir more protection with an in out field. 
Bashir used the crease to vary his angle of attack and extracted bounce and turn on a very flat batting pitch, bowling few bad balls. 
Anderson was picked to provide control and bowl dots and he did just that with 1-19 from eight overs. He worked over Gill beautifully luring him forward to prod hard at a ball wide of off stump.
It is going to be tough work for England and India have a golden chance to build confidence and a big total on a pitch that is cracked and will turn later in the match. Stokes rotated his bowlers often and will need to be smart with his tactics to generate chances today but Bashir has settled into cricket and Anderson is back. Decent signs, but India going well too.
Lunch, day 1, Vizag with team @TelegraphSport pic.twitter.com/3szr9gtvRi
“Excellent opening spell by Shoaib Bashir. The only drag-down was his first ball, a quicker one, and it was stopped by a fielder – unlike Tom Hartley’s first ball in Tests. The first full toss was when he bowled one over too many, his tenth. Bear in mind that the pitch is as batsman-friendly as they come in India and 10-0-39-1 makes a very promising start.”
A fairly even opening session so far. Anderson bowls his first bouncer of the ball but Shreyas Iyer ducks under it well enough. Five dots but Shreyas gets off the mark finally with a perfectly timed straight drive through to the long-on boundary! Well watched and pinged off the middle of the bat. That brings up the 100 for India and will be lunch. 
A brief appeal for a run-out with some minor confusion but Iyer is sent back and makes his ground before a direct hit. Bashir then sends in an awful full toss which is heaved for six over the deep midwicket boundary. A very loose one, dipping slightly but Jaiswal presses forwards and thrashes it aerially and into the stands. Worse next ball, in some ways as Rehan Ahmed misfields on the boundary to make it four more and 50 for Jaiswal. A bit too full and driven nicely through point. In fairness to Rehan the ball did take a bit of a bobble before his attempted stop but it looks bad. Bashir finds his line and length to left-hander Jaiswal to finish the over well enough. 10 off the over and 30 done before lunch!
Shreyas Iyer the next man in at No 4. Can England winkle another out before lunch? It’s 691 wickets for James Anderson now. Can he get to 700 in this series?
Will Macpherson writes: “After a scrappy first over, James Anderson has bowled beautifully today. He’s now picked up at least one wicket in 22 successive years, from 2003 to 2024. Remarkable longevity.”
This time Anderson does take a genuine edge off Gill and this runs finer down to the third man boundary for four. Wide of first slip. A definite difference between the first one of this over and the last of the previous one. 
Anderson will be annoyed… but he turns that around into jubilation as his probing line takes a thinner edge off Gill and Foakes dives to his right to take the catch! Gill was starting to look dangerous and the partnership has been broken at 49…
James Anderson is 41 and 𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗹 taking Test wickets! 💥Just pure brilliance from England’s best 💪🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿#INDvENG pic.twitter.com/yrrOoXuJPi
The needle swings to England again as we approach lunch. 
FOW 89/2
 
Gill takes on Bashir. He doesn’t get all of this slog sweep but there is no fielder out there and he gets four runs for it. Aerial, definitely. Nothing wrong with the next shot, either, a bit full and Gill gets to the pitch of it and drives handsomely through the covers for four more! The first time Bashir has come under any pressure, this. Will be interesting to see how he responds… and perhaps what Stokes does, too. 
 
An outside edge – though played with an open face – down to the third man boundary gets Gill four runs. Not a genuine outside edge. Not sure it’ll make Anderson any happier, though. 
India move to 70/1 with two singles. The Great Escape rings out from the Barmy Army trumpeter and we might have a bowling change with the return of pace. Not much in this pitch for anyone and probably Anderson least of all. 
Are India playing this first morning like a side that are 1-0 down and cannot afford to get off to a bad start after winning the toss? Perhaps, but England have bowled fairly tidily so far this morning with some decent captaincy from Stokes. The pitch looks good, though, and batsmen should be able to deliver a big score if they get in. 
Bashir not afraid to toss it up a little. It’s always going to help getting on the board with a wicket early on, isn’t it? Four singles off his seventh over as we enter the final half-hour before lunch. I think England will be the happier of the two sides so far. India not getting away from England by any means. 
Hartley’s latest has just two off it leaving him with figures of six overs for 21 runs. 3.5 an over, hardly the tightest economy rate overall but take out that one over that went for 12 runs and it’s 1.8 an over so, really, tight for most of the time. It’s not like he’s been overly milked or thrashed around the park. 
“Reports in the Indian press that Ravindra Jadeja and Mohammad Shami are likely to miss the entire series. Shami has flown to England to see a specialist surgeon for injections in his left ankle. He had been ruled out the first two Tests but the injury is worse than first thought. 
“Jadeja sustained a hamstring strain in the process of being run out in Hyderabad and is expected to take four weeks to heal which makes him an outside chance for the final Test Dharamsala that starts on March 7 depending on his recovery. There has been no word on Virat Kohli’s availability. He pulled out the first two Tests for personal reasons.”
Shouts of “catch, catch!” from Foakes as Jaiswal top edges a sweep but Crawley cannot get to it and isn’t close enough to even attempt it. Bashir changes his angle to round the wicket to right-hander Gill. Again, gives him the chance of beating the bat on both sides if one slides or grips. 
Three singles off Bashir’s sixth over and he has figures of 1-16 and appears to be loving life as a Test cricketer. He might well have been one a little sooner without visa issues but I am not sure he will be thinking about that in the slightest right now. 
A tidier and less expensive over from Hartley, just a single from it. 
Bashir continues here but just two runs off it. I like the look of him so far. 
“How close Shoaib Bashir got to the stumps for his opening wicket, by approaching the crease at an angle. He makes righthanders play almost every ball, and if it turns, and he has a leg slip…”
Jaiswal goes on the attack after that wicket – attacking Hartley by going down the pitch to slog sweep him. It’s three next ball before Gill puts away a rank full toss off the final ball. 12 runs off the over, 11 and two boundaries in the last three balls – the final of which was a rank full toss which got everything it deserved. 
Gill is off the mark, but so are England and Bashir in his fledgling Test – and indeed profesional cricket – career. 
“What a moment! Shoaib Bashir has bowled really nicely here, and now he’s got Rohit Sharma out! Fantastic stuff, and a big celebration.”
It’s a first Test wicket for Bashir! It’s a fairly decent ball, outside off and turning into the right-hander but the India captain turns it around the corner and straight into the hands of Ollie Pope at leg slip! He’s annoyed with himself and rightly so! Just didn’t get enough on it there… Bashir is delighted as well he might be!
Shoaib Bashir’s first Test wicket 🤩#INDvENG pic.twitter.com/3527t4vGap
India 40/1
Big shout my England in the first over after drinks. Hartley raps Jaiswal on the pads but England decide against a review, probably on the grounds of height. Hartley bowls a maiden. He’s being a bit tighter than he was in his first spell in Hyderabad. Good ball with the LBW shout, turned a bit into Jaiswal. 
“A steady first hour, with just 40 runs scored in 16 (16!) overs. Joe Root’s bowling has been a bit of a mess, but otherwise England – not least Shoaib Bashir – have been very tidy. Ben Stokes is up to his usual tricks, cycling through bowlers quickly. Root and Tom Hartley’s last three spells have all lasted one over apiece.”
The first hour gone and India have reached 40 without loss without any great alarm. 
Hartley returns, so perhaps Stokes is trying to not let India’s batters settle into a rhythm against his bowlers as much as their openers do not want England’s bowlers to settle against a right and left-handed opening pair. Rohit skips down the pitch but Hartley sends it wide and he blocks out to the off-side. Hartley then gets away with a full toss as Anderson dives and fields at midwicket. England not exactly looking likely to take a wicket but India not running away. 
Bashir suffers his first boundary against him as Jaiswal cuts him hard for four, as he sends one in slightly wide and fractionally short. 
Joe Root returns for a change of ends and is immediately driven through the covers for four by Jaiswal, who moves to 20 off 43. Those are the only runs off the over. 
And Shoaib Bashir will get his first bowl at Test match level. This is just his seventh first-class game of cricket. Staggering, really (or it might have been a few years ago…) but England have seen something they like in him. 
First impressions? He’s coming quite wide of the crease to the left-hander which can perhaps put a bit of doubt into the mind of the batsman as to whether it spins or slides on and whether to play or not. It’s nearly a maiden maiden over in cricket but Jaiswal pushes one out out to the leg side to deny him. Tidy start, though. 
Meanwhile, Scyld Berry writes: “India have quite a tail. But can England take more than one wicket per session on such a slow pitch, then wrap up the rest in a cluster?” 
Tom Hartley, the star of the first Test match with the ball for England, will replace James Anderson. How will India approach him this time after bludgeoning him in the first innings in the first game. It’s a right and left-handed opening pair so that can be disruptive for a spinner early on. A little bit of grip to right-hander Rohit but nothing to worry about as he presses forward and runs it out behind square on the off-side. The final ball slides into Rohit’s pads but likely off an inside edge. Four singles off it. 
India just picking off the runs though not in great quantities. Aside from the aggression in Root’s first over it has been fairly circumspect from the home side. Relatively, anyway. 
A superb straight drive down the ground only gets Rohit one as Anderson deflects it with his left boot. The final ball is a beach, again moving across the left-hander Jaiswal and beating his outside edge by a few inches. Played inside it you might say, but still a fine delivery. 
Two singles before a misfield from Anderson at backward point gifts India a couple. On his knees and it gets through his defences. Four from the latest over. Nothing too alarming bar a couple that move off the seam. Root has not threatened yet but it is only the eighth over. 
England think they might have one… bat and pad perhaps that slips through to the fielders behind? They decide against a review which is wise because it came off the pad only and would not have been LBW. Too high by far. Anderson getting some movement off the seam but not much off the pitch or in the air. Anyway, it’s a maiden for Anderson. 
Root gets away with a full-toss and one that drops short in the over but at least finishes with a good ball. 
“Sir Geoffrey described Rohit Sharma as past it the other day in his Telegraph Sport column. The 36 year old has scored 4 Test hundred in four years although that does include a spell on the sidelines when he was out of favour under Kohli who was not happy with his lack of fitness. Boycs’s words were picked and run across the Indian media this week and the flatness of this pitch, plus winning the toss, hands Rohit a golden chance to hit back and prove a point.”
A nip-backer (back-nipper?) from Anderson to Rohit who inside edges onto his pad. Anderson’s hair looks a modern updated tribute to those highlights he had early in his career, more than two decades ago. 
Anyway, just the solitary run from the third Anderson over, which was a good one. 
Not too much bother for India in the opening few overs as Root continues. Decent line and length and just one single, to Rohit, from the over. 
Rohit off the mark second ball with a simple push outside off – off the back foot. Well timed because he didn’t put much force into it and it nearly runs out to the deep point boundary, but gets three. He did angle the bat well enough, nicely played shot. Rehan Ahmed fields on the boundary “rope”. Best ball of the day! Anderson beats Jaiswal with another one across him as he pushes at it but plays and misses. It keeps a bit low on the way through to the keeper and moved after bouncing, too. A decent finish, to the over. 
Jaiswal keeps the strike as Joe Root begins the second over. It’s a wild slash outside off-stumps as he throws his hands at it without moving his feet. It’s in the air but evades any fielders and slides out to the boundary for four! Jasball? 
He attacks the second ball, too, which is straighter but he cannot get hold of it. Another hard drive for Jaiswal fourth ball and slightly aerial but mostly along the ground and for four more through to deep point. 
It is indeed James Anderson with the opening over, as Will Macpherson writes: “Jimmy Anderson is opening the bowling from the Dr Vizzy End, which must be the best-named in world cricket.” He begins with one that sneaks down the leg side. The second-ball adjustment is good, going across the left-hander. It’s nearly a maiden but Jaiswal nudges one to the leg side to get India and himself off the mark. 
“Second Test for me in Vizag. I was here eight years ago when England were soundly beaten. Two memories stick out. Jimmy Anderson became the first England batsman to record a king pair in Test cricket and a dog held up play for so long it forced an early tea. England were all over the place. 
“Duckett was told to go out and defend for two days. He didn’t last long and it took him another six years to play again. One interesting point from the practice days this week was the amount of time India batsmen worked on the sweep in the nets, not a shot they traditionally play. Have they taken a leaf out of Duckett’s book?”
You would assume it’ll be James Anderson to kick things off with the new ball but I don’t think it will be long until we see Tom Hartley or even debutant Shoaib Bashir. 
“Greetings from Vizag, which is a lovely little (by Indian standards) ground surrounded by rugged hills.  The pitch looks flat here. England believe that it will break up as the game goes on, which makes that quite a bad toss for Ben Stokes to lose. I’m sure he’s taking the positives.  
“India have made three changes, two of them forced. Seamer Mukesh Kumar comes in for the rested Mohammed Siraj, wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav replaces Ravindra Jadeja, while debutant Rajat Patidar will slot into the middle order for KL Rahul. It must be the least proven Indian batting lineup for a long time. 
“England have a debutant, too, in Shoaib Bashir. His Somerset team-mate Jack Leach presented him with his cap this morning.”
CrawleyDuckettPopeRootBairstowStokes*Foakes+AhmedHartleyBashirAnderson
JaiswalSharmaGillPatidarIyerBharat+R AshwinPatelBumrahKumarYadav
“Yeah, we were going to bat. It was a great week last week but we have got that out of our mind and we know that India is going to come back hard. I think to come from behind like we did is obviously pleasing… we take the confidence out of that into this week but this is a new week; we start again. I think coming out to India is an experience in itself – it’s an amazing atmosphere to play in front of. I think the opportunities that get presented to guys at such a young age… is going to do them well in the long-term.” 
…and they are going to bat. 
“It looks a good pitch, the pitch is going to do its thing, we just have to play good cricket to win the game. It’s important what happened in Hyderabad, we take some positives from it, but then quickly move on,” says skipper Rohit Sharma. 
TNT Sports’ coverage has begun in a studio in Sweden with at least some faces we can see this time (Steven Finn, Sir Alastair Cook and Kate Mason). 
Even at 41 and with 183 caps, Test cricket can still throw something new at James Anderson.
He has carried the England pace attack several times down the years, but this time it is all on his shoulders as the only seamer in the side for the first time in his career, inheriting the job from Mark Wood for the second Test in Vizag.
Anderson has been picked for control. Stokes recognises that in Rehan Ahmed, Tom Hartley and Shoaib Bashir, he may need someone to bowl dots and Wood’s fiery pace had the life sucked out of it in Hyderabad. Wood finished with none for 62 and the change is tactical; Wood is fully fit.
Read more from Nick Hoult here. 
ENGLAND HAVE DONE IT! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿Test cricket, ey? 🏏#INDvENG pic.twitter.com/fVZy3QLRPP
Of course you do. Chances are if England do win they will do it in a little easier fashion than this – the 190-run first-innings deficit they overturned in Hyderabad was the 10th largest of its kind to be overturned into a win in Test cricket history. 
Welcome to our live coverage for the second Test of the England in India five-match series at Visakhapatnam. England’s turnaround in the first Test in Hyderabad was monumental. From 190-odd runs behind in the first-innings to a 28-run victory, courtesy of an Ollie Pope masterclass and a stunning seven-wicket haul from debut left-arm spinner Tom Hartley. 
England have a great opportunity with a weakened India side. As was the case in Hyderabad, Virat Kohli is missing this match but Ravindra Jadeja – who has been as handy with the bat as with the ball in recent times – and KL Rahul, who scored a useful 86 in the first innings will be absent. Few teams who visit here will have as good a chance to go 2-0 up and few will go into a match this buoyant. 
England, though, have an injury of their own. Jack Leach picked up a knock on his left knee in the first Test and, though he was able to bowl a few overs at a time in the second innings, but he will not take part. In his place is Shoaib Bashir – who may well have played in the first Test were it not for his visa issues – the tall off-spinner. Bashir has played just six first-class games but England have seen something in him that they like. And with Ben Stokes as captain he is likely to get plenty of overs under his belt.
Captain Ben Stokes believes it will be a “good [batting] wicket for maybe a day or two” before breaking up in the heat.“I think we always knew what we wanted,” said Stokes. “We looked at the pitch yesterday and again today just to see what change would happen after a day.”“There’s no worries and no issues for me that he’s [Bashir] been away from the group for a period of time, then coming back in to make his debut. It’s not like he’s forgotten how to bowl, so no conversations like that.”
The only other change is Mark Wood leaves the team and James Anderson comes in, hoping to add to his 690 wickets in his 184th Test match. One way or another I reckon this will be a good watch. We’ll have the toss coming up shortly.