IND vs ENG 1st Test, Day 2: KL Rahul Hits Fifty, Shreyas Iyer Takes Control as India Trail by 24 runs at Lunch

KL Rahul continued his fine form in red-ball cricket with a solid half-century while Shreyas Iyer took control after a sluggish start to help India stabilise innings after losing early wickets on Day 2. The duo shared an unbeaten 63-run stand for the fourth wicket to put India back in the driver’s seat at lunch.

It started on a wrong note for India as Yashasvi Jaiswal who scored a sublime half-century on the opening day failed to convert it into a big score and was dismissed for 80 by Joe Root.

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Shubman Gill’s struggle in Test cricket also continued as he was dismissed for just 23 and became the first wicket of England’s debutant Tom Hartley.

At Lunch, Rahul (55*) and Iyer (34*) put India (222/3) on the top once again as they trail England by just 24 runs.

Earlier, in the day, England skipper Ben Stokes rectified his mistake and gave the ball to Joe Root early and the part-timer got the better of Jaiswal who resumed his innings on 76 and managed to add just four more runs to it. The southpaw looked to smash it straight down the ground and hit it straight to Root who took a fine on follow through.

Shubman, who looked nervy throughout his innings, played a loose shot in the attempt to break the shackles and holed out at mid-wicket inside circle. The young batter left the pitch with disappointment as things are getting worse for him since taking the number 3 spot in Test cricket.

Rahul was all imperious timing and he seemed to have imbibed a lot of confidence from that hundred against South Africa earlier this month at Centurion.

But, Rahul held his ground firmly with his technical correctness coming to the fore against both spinners and pacer, helping India to make 103 runs at 3.81 runs per over.

He looked comfortable against both spinners and Mark Wood as he didn’t shy away from punishing loose deliveries for boundaries at regular intervals.

England tried to trouble Shreyas Iyer with Wood through short balls.

England positioned a deep third man, deep fine leg and deep backward square leg to trap him, but the Mumbaikar survived the barrage to fight another session.

The Indian star took his time at the start and battled the tough period which wasn’t very long and took over the charge against the spinners.