Rajkot: Indian bowlers were made to toil as England began their campaign on a promising note, riding on star batsman Joe Root’s (124, 180b, 11×4, 1×6) 11th century to finish the opening day of the first cricket Test at a solid 311 for the loss of four wickets, here Wednesday.
England’s premier batsman put on 179 runs for the fourth wicket with Moeen Ali (99 batting, 192b, 9×4) to put the underdogs in a commanding position against the hosts.
The 25-year-old Root’s maiden ton on Asian soil helped England to escape from a tricky 102 for three wickets at lunch. He finally fell to a fine return catch by pacer Umesh Yadav (1/68) late in the day to spark hopes of an Indian revival. Ben Stokes (19) was the other unbeaten batsman at stumps with Moeen.
India, incidentally, did not take the second new ball as pacer Mohammed Shami, preferred over Ishant Sharma, went off the field with a hamstring injury that was not good news for India. The seamer returned later, but clearly looked in pain.
Earlier, things had seemed bright for the hosts, who are seeking their third back-to-back Test series triumph and their first in four rubbers against the tourists, when they packed off England captain and their scourge, Alastair Cook for 21 who was trapped leg before by Ravindra Jadeja.
Cook, dropped on zero off the third ball of the match by Ajinkya Rahane off Shami, later preferred not to review the leg before wicket decision given against him although replays suggested the ball might have missed the leg stump.
The other two wickets that fell early in the day were grabbed by off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin
who dismissed debutant opener Haseeb Hameed (31), earning a leg before verdict that was reviewed by England without success and Ben Dockett for 13, caught at slip by Rahane in the last over before lunch.
But thereafter Root, batted fluently using his feet beautifully against the spinners, and Moeen who played the ideal foil, took centrestage as they laid the foundation for a huge first innings total.
India, who lost the advantage of the toss at home for the first time after eight Tests, also let themselves down with sloppy close-in catching, grassing three in all, to let England off the hook.
Catches were dropped off Cook and Hameed was let off by Murali Vijay in the slips off Yadav in the sixth over. Cheteshwar Pujara, at short-leg, let the ball through his legs when Ali turned Ashwin after completing his half ton.
The major part of the day belonged to Root who had an average in excess of 100 in six previous Tests against India. He looked unflappable, settling down first and then milking the bowling with singles and two runs, and the occasional boundary.
Press Trust of India