India concluded day 1 of the first Test against England in Hyderabad on Thursday (Jan 25) with a significant lead. Yashasvi Jaiswal remained unbeaten at 76, accompanied by Shubman Gill at 14. The home team, after dismissing England for 246 runs in their first innings, currently trails by 127 runs. In response, India posted 119 runs, losing the wicket of skipper Rohit Sharma for 28, taken by Jack Leach.
Earlier, England won the toss and chose to bat first on a pitch that showed early signs of spin, although not excessively, in the first session. England, as anticipated, named three spinners in their playing XI, with Mark Wood being the sole pacer. The English openers, Ben Duckett and Zack Crawley, made a solid start, contributing 58 runs for the first wicket. However, India's ace spinner Ravi Ashwin broke that partnership, and the visitors lost wickets at regular intervals thereafter. England went from 58/0 to 60/3 before Joe Root (29) and Jonny Bairstow (37) added 38 runs for the fourth wicket, taking England to lunch on day 1 at 108/3.
Skipper Ben Stokes entered the crease after Bairstow's dismissal and scored 70 runs before becoming the last wicket to fall for England. England were eight down at tea with Stokes at 43, and the skipper came out all guns blazing after that. His aggressive play took England near 250 before Jasprit Bumrah bowled him with a peach of a delivery.
For India, the spin duo of Ravi Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja took three wickets each. Ashwin, closing in on 500 Test wickets, managed 3/68, while Jadeja's figures read 3/88. In addition, the third spinner Axar Patel chipped in with 2/33 in 13 overs, while Bumrah took the remaining two wickets to finish on 2/28, as Mohammed Siraj went wicketless.
