IND vs ENG 5th Test Day 1 Highlights: Here are the two squads:
India Squad: Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Hanuma Vihari, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant(w), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah(c), Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Shardul Thakur, Srikar Bharat, Prasidh Krishna
England (Playing XI): Alex Lees, Zak Crawley, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes(c), Sam Billings(w), Matty Potts, Stuart Broad, Jack Leach, James Anderson
Between the Oval Test in September last year and the Edgbaston Test that begins on Friday, the world, both real and sporting, has changed. The Covid-19 virus doesn’t strike as much fear as it used to back then — support staff testing positive sufficed to stop the series then, but now the Indian captain is out of the game with a positive test and a stand-in has been named; eastern Europe has become a battlefield; Australia finally became the T20 World Cup champions; two new teams were formed in the IPL and one of them lifted the trophy; both England and India have a different coach and captain; there is a full crowd in the stands.
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So vast the changes have been that the Edgbaston Test seems not so much a decider as a standalone fixture. A one-off Test in both schedule as well as spirit, an inequitable climax to what was a glorious Test series. It’s akin to the unfolding climax of a whodunit ripped off and sewn up into a short movie released 10 months later with a different set of directors and lead men, in a different mood and background, and a few changes in the cast. It’s almost a different entity in itself, but of neither standalone nor part-of-the-whole value. Like a satellite perhaps.
Matty Potts starts the 73rd over and is hit for a four by Jadeja. Overthrow as it goes for four more. Scrappy end to a rather scrappy day. That's it. Day ends. India are 338/7 at Stumps.
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The 72nd over starts and there might not be much time remaining in the day's play. Stokes starts with 3 dots as Jadejka gets off the mark off the 4th ball.Just that 1 from the over. IND 329/7 after 72 overs.
Stokes takes the wicket of Shardul Thakur and an easy catch by Billings does the rest. England take two quick wickets now and trying to make a comeback. IND 323/7 after 68 overs.
Rishabh Pant starts the over with a six and then he departs. Root takes his wicket. He goes back to the pavilion after scoring 146 runs. Great innings!! IND 321/6 after 67 overs.
This is a great comeback by the Indian batters. Kudos to the great partnership between Pant and Jadeja. Indian team are in a good position now. IND 304/5 after 64 overs.
"Last year I was talking to Pant and I told him I am getting bored seeing you throwing it away in the same fashion everytime, aren't you bored as well? So why don't you try something different, something more outrageous....like a reverse sweep maybe? And I saw his eyes light up. It's very important to back a player's ability"
Pant hits two sixes against Leach. He is dominating the English bowlers, hitting them all along the park. Great batting from Pant!! IND 286/5 after 61 overs.
What an innings it has been from Pant. He smashes a century here. This is incredible batting from Pant. 5th century for him in Test cricket. Jadeja also gets to his half-century. This is great batting by both the Indian batters. IND 251/5 after 58 overs.
Rishabh Pant is playing a brilliant knock here. He hits a boundary against Leach. He fell over while hitting the second boundary. He is playing attacking cricket here. IND 241/5 after 57 overs
Rishabh Pant completes 2000 runs in Test cricket. What an achievement!!
Te 49th over by Potts was going well until the 5th ball was pulled for a four by Rishabh Pant. The last ball is also sent to the boundary and that's 200 up for India and 100 partnership up for these two. IND 202/5 after 49 overs
Anderson in to bowl the 46th over and Jadeja takes a page off Pant's book, hits a glorious cover drive for a four!! Three dots to follow. IND 186/5 after 46 overs
We are back live after tea for the final session of the day and Potts will bowl to Pant. Dot to start before the cover drive sends his second delivery to the boundary. The 4th ball is also cut for another four!! IND 182/5 after 45 overs
India are 174/5 after 44 overs. The last 20-30 minutes have panned out in a sleek manner for the Indian team. Fifty for Pant and solid support by Jadeja put India in a decent position now.
Pant gets to his fifty. He hits a boundary against Leach and reaches his half-century. What an innings it has been!! Pant seems to be in great touch. IND 172/5 after 43 overs.
Pant is on fire as he takes on the left-arm spinner Leach. He gets two fours and a six in this over. This is fearless cricket! Pant is looking in great touch now. IND 150/5 after 37.1 overs.
Jadeja gets a boundary against Broad. He is timing it well in the middle. Pant also takes on Broad and hits a lovely four. IND 121/5 after 34 overs.
Broad comes in to bowl the 32nd over. It's a half-volley delivery and Jadeja looks to drive it towards cover, but miscues it and Root takes an easy catch. But Umpire signals not out and then it goes to the third umpire. After looking through all the angles, the third umpire gives not out. IND 109/5 after 32 overs.
Broad in to bowl the 30th over as India struggle to 100 runs. Starts with two dot balls as Pant looks to come down the ground. Just 2 runs from this over. IND 107/5 after 30 overs.
Most wickets against a team outside Ashes Tests
164 C Ambrose vs Eng
145 C Walsh vs Eng
136 J Anderson vs Ind *
135 C Walsh vs Aus
The last ball of the last over ended with a boundary by Shreyas Iyer. He as started pretty well here. 3 boundaries already.Anderson is hit straight down the ground for a four by Pant. And yes!!!! Anderson strikes again!!! Iyer gets the glove and excellent catch by Billings. IND 98/5 after 27.5 overs
GONE!!!! Potts does it again. Two minds on whether to leave it or play it. Virat Kohli looking to leave the ball, late decision to take the bat away. Ricochets off the stumps. Huge wicket. IND 71/4 after 24.2 overs
Big shout for leg before. And it's given. Vihari asks Kohli if this one is worth reviewing but Kohli tells him not to. That's another down fopr India. England couldn't have asked for a better start. Potts with the wicket. IND 64/3 after 22.2 overs
Now then, we are back and Kohli starts with a boundary. Edged and gone all the way. Lucky break for the former India skipper. IND 57/2 after 21 overs
Another update now as play is scheduled to start at 2.15PM (6:45PM IST). 84 overs today and 97 tomorrow permitting weather. We still have game on our hands
It has started to rain again according to various online reports. The match will be delayed further I guess and all we can do is wait now.
It has stopped raining and the umpires will have another look at 1.45 PM local time (6.15 PM IST) to see when te match can begin again.
The umpires are in the middle and they are having a chat with the groundsmen. Probably about the start time of the match. Nothing is confirmed at the moment but we might start soon.
News from the middle is that the rain has stopped but the outfield is still pretty wet which is delaying the play. The super soppers are at work and hopefully we can start soon.
ENGLAND T20 SQUAD: Jos Buttler (captain), Moeen Ali, Harry Brook, Sam Curran, Richard Gleeson, Chris Jordan, Liam Livingstone, Dawid Malan, Tymal Mills, Matthew Parkinson, Jason Roy, Phil Salt, Reece Topley, David Willey
ENGLAND ODI SQUAD: Jos Buttler (captain), Moeen Ali, Jonathan Bairstow, Harry Brook, Brydon Carse, Sam Curran, Liam Livingstone, Craig Overton, Matthew Parkinson, Joe Root, Jason Roy, Phil Salt, Ben Stokes, Reece Topley, David Willey
India’s squad for 1st T20I: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Ishan Kishan, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Sanju Samson, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Rahul Tripathi, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Hardik Pandya, Venkatesh Iyer, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Avesh Khan, Arshdeep Singh, Umran Malik
India’s squad for 2nd and 3rd T20I: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Ishan Kishan, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Shreyas Iyer, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Rishabh Pant (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Avesh Khan, Harshal Patel, Umran Malik.
India’s squad for 3 ODIs: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Ishan Kishan, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, J Bumrah, Prasidh Krishna, Mohd Shami, Mohd Siraj, Arshdeep Singh
As the rain persists, here's our weather copy which predicted the conditions of this 5th Test match. (READ MORE)
And yes, rain has brought an early lunch after James Anderson removed both India's openers at Edgbaston. Let's see what happens when the rain stops and Vihari and Kohli comes out in the middle.
The rain has come now and the players are off the field. Probably an early lunch. The rain has gotten heavier and heavier. Hopefully it stops soon.
Here's Anderson to bowl the 20th over and Kohli is on strike. Big battle time!!! Here we go!!! Two dots to start this one. Another dot to follow. Huge swing in the air. Solid defense by Kohli. Kohli off the mark in the last ball with a single. IND 53/2 after 20 overs.
Virat Kohli is in the middle now and he'll soon face his old nemesis James Anderson who is breathing fire at the moment. Here's an analysis of the Kohli-Anderson duel.
That's the edge and Pujara is gone gone this time. Anderson continued probing and probing and Pujara had to play that. Straight into the hands of Crawley. India lose another. IND 46/2 after 18 overs
Pujara has left 42% of deliveries so far this morning and played with a false shot percentage of just 16% - in comparison his partners this morning have left 30% of deliveries and played with a false shot percentage of 32%.
Rare shot by Pujara to flay at the ball by Broad. Gets the boundary. Next ball gets the inside edge and is he gone? England think so. The on-field umpire agreess but Pujara reviews. Looks like it hit the back pocket. The decision is reversed. Pujara is safe. IND 43/1 after 14 overs
"Dravid was a great test specialist and the reason why India didn't really miss him after his retirement was Pujara. He nailed the No. 3 spot like the Wall. Now he is opening for India like Dravid did it here in England 11 years ago." - says Mustafa on social. Here we notice some minor adjustments that Puji has made in his stance.
James Anderson strikes so early for the hosts as he claims Indian opener Shubman Gill's wicket. Shubman Gill caught by Crawley at the second slip. Shubman Gill c Crawley b Anderson 17(24)
Cheteshwar Pujara has opened in 8 innings for India so far and scored 395 runs. His 145-run knock as an opener came against Sri Lanka in 2015 where he had remained unbeaten.
James Anderson concedes a boundary off the last ball. Shubman opens his account before Stuart Broad opens his bowling account with a no-ball. Not an easy track to bat on. 5/0 in first two overs
Shubman Gill-Cheteshwar Pujara pair has walked to the middle to open for India. James Anderson opens the bowling attack for the English side at Edgbaston with overcast situation.
"It's a good feeling (to be captain) and is a big privilege. Can't get better than this. Excited and looking forward to this. Very happy with the preparation. Wanted to spend a lot of time and get used to the English conditions, as we came back from T20s. Happy with the preparation, now it's for the mental side to take over. Four bowlers - myself, Siraj, Shardul and Shami along with Jaddu as the all-rounder."
Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Hanuma Vihari, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant(w), Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Jasprit Bumrah(c)
Alex Lees, Zak Crawley, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes(c), Sam Billings(w), Matty Potts, Stuart Broad, Jack Leach, James Anderson
England have won the toss and elect to bowl first in the 5th Test. "Pujara will open the batting." - says Bumrah
Mayank Agarwal has joined the squad as cover but India have yet to decide who will be Shubman Gill's opening partner in Rohit's absence. Coach Rahul Dravid has said they have two more options in stumper-batsman KS Bharat and top order batsman Cheteshwar Pujara.
Fast bowler Shardul Thakur cherishes his role in the Indian Test side and said his job is to make an impact when the main bowlers are on a break. Shardul, who generally bowls third or fourth in a Test match, said he loves to deliver in crunch situations. “Our pace bowling attack at the moment, everyone is doing well including (Mohammed) Shami, (Jasprit) Bumrah, Umesh (Yadav) whenever he gets a game. Ishant (Sharma) was there and usually they start with the new ball and a lot of times it happens that they take two-three wickets in the first spell and I get opportunity to bowl later,” Thakur told BCCI.tv.
Jasprit Bumrah will lead the side with wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant as his deputy, the team said in a statement. Rohit was doubtful for the clash since he tested positive for COVID-19 during a warm-up match in Leicester last week. He had a Rapid Antigen Test on Thursday and returned a positive result, which snuffed out his chances of playing in the match at Edgbaston.