India v England: fifth Test, day one – as it happened | England in India 2024

Righto, Ali Martin’s report is here, which means we’re away – thanks for your company and comments, sorry I couldn’t use them all. Peace out.

Marcus Trescothick – sent out presumably because no player has had a good enough day to appear – says there were good bits, referencing Crawley, but notes that no one went on and England need a better day tomorrow. They won’t look too hard at what India did because they’re “pretty unique” – I know, I know – and have plenty of areas in which they can improve tomorrow. They were expecting more action from ball and pitch first up, are hoping for some early movement and cloud cover tomorrow, and still think they can win.

“Finny is resplendent in some fine overshirts,” advises Guy Hornsby. “I’m a huge fan too. And a big Stephen Finn guy. He’s a sharp pundit, doesn’t take himself too seriously, and seems a lovely man.”

I could not agree more with the second part of this – I think Finn is great and wonder how his Test career might’ve gone had he not had come across a street fighter of Graeme Smith’s calibre…

Also going on…

Can anyone help? These … affairs Steve Finn keeps wearing: do they have a name?

I can’t reiterate this enough. My 10-year-old is not the shy, retiring type, but playing netball has been great for her.

A thoroughly dreadful day for England, but let’s be real: there’ve been way fewer of these that might’ve been expected at the start of the series. India’s spinners bowled majestically on a day-one pitch, finding just enough action to take control of the match. In particular, Kuldeep Yadav was sensational, and it can’t be often, if ever, any side fielded three spinners as brilliant as him, R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja.

India, it turns out, are a decent cricket team. Everything else is commentary.

India end day one on 135-1 in response to England’s 218 all out

29th over: India 127-1 (Rohit 52, Gill 18) In comms, Ravi notes that Bashir seems to have learnt variations of pace on this tour – he drops after Gill works him away for one on the on side. It’s the only run off the over, and we’ve one left in what’s been another terrific day for India.

28th over: India 126-1 (Rohit 52, Gill 17) Rohit turns around the corner, and Wood dives to stop, brimful of Asha (on the 45); oh the 1990s, and we’ve not even contemplated the extent of our bosom/pillow requirements. A further single follows.

27th over: India 124-1 (Rohit 51, Gill 16) Bashir wheels in again and I really like how repeatable his action is – it means he can bowl wicket-to-wicket and, when it gets o top, rely on himself to put the ball in the right areas. Maiden.

26th over: India 124-1 (Rohit 51, Gill 16) Public service announcement: India have Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant and Mohammed Shami to come back into this side. Ahahahahaha! Two singles from the over, 15 minutes left of day one.

25th over: India 122-1 (Rohit 50, Gill 15) Rohit turns Bashir around the corner for a single, raising yet another Test 50 – his 18th. And I really enjoy the way he captains too – his players know he believes in them, but also that if they don’t do what they’re meant to, he’ll let them know, perhaps in front of everyone. But right now, he’s congratulating Shubman Gill on a six wellied over midwicket, India in total control of this match.

24th over: India 115-1 (Rohit 49, Gill 9) Gill waits for Hartley and zetzes him over midwicket for a one-bounce four. If England’s spinners can eliminate the one bad ball in every six, they’ll be a lot better for it.

23rd over: India 111-1 (Rohit 49, Gill 5) Rohit takes Bashir for one, then Gill tries to turn a leg-side ball around the corner and somehow the back of his bat earns him four. A single follows, and England really need another wicket tonight.

“I think we’ve got a baby/bathwater situation with B*****l here”, writes Thomas Atkins. “People focus on stuff like Joe Root’s reverse ramp and the silly attacking shots and forget the other side of it, which is the idea that getting to play a sport for a living is a privilege that should be enjoyed. Whatever happens next, nobody can deny that Stokes and McCullum have come across a method of managing players that reduces the chances of the game taking a devastating mental toll on people. Maybe I’m oversimplifying, but I can’t be the first person to wonder if such an approach might have spared the likes of Jonathan Trott and Marcus Trescothick a lot of pain and anguish, or how Duncan Fletcher or Andy Flower would have handled the Tom Hartley’s entry into the team.”

I agree with all of this. I bet there are more than a handful of workers wondering how much better they’d perform if their bosses were as nurturing as Baz n’ Ben, and who knows, maybe a few bosses inspired to try another way.

22nd over: India 105-1 (Rohit 48, Gill 0) We’ve nine overs left in the day and can England build pressure? Hartley keeps it tight, wicket-to-wicket as Rohit defends, nurdling the last ball of the over into the on side for the only run from it. He’s playing for the close now, all responsible as captain.

21st over: India 104-1 (Rohit 47, Gill 0) Rohit was irritated Jaiswal gave that away, his adrenaline pumping at the chance to ravage a young career and rightly so. But what a player, goodness me.

WICKET! Jaiswal st Foakes b Bashir 57 (India 104-1)

21st over: India 104-0 (Jaiswal 57, Rohit 47) Yashasvi Jaiswal is an amazing player. He cuts for two then, when Bashir is short, monsters sweep to the fence and he now has fifty in each of this serieseseses’ five Tests. And have a look! Another four follows, swept hard; this is some of the best batting across a five-match contest that I’ve ever seen.

20th over: India 94-0 (Jaiswal 47, Rohit 47) Three dots, then Rohit chips towards mid off, brought up by Stokes who’s trying to manufacture something … and Anderson can’t quite introduce hand to ball … which of course runs away for four.

19th over: India 90-0 (Jaiswal 47, Rohit 43) Eeesh, Jaiswal has seen enough and bullies Bashir again, skipping down and to leg, forcing four to long on before taking four more off the toes and under the nose, his 700th run of this series zooming through midwicket. What a player. Two singles follow, and I reckon England will be all out for 226 late on day three, losing by an innings and 119.

18th over: India 80-0 (Jaiswal 38, Rohit 42) Jaiswal nudges down the ground for one, the only run off the over, and if you think England are flagging now, picture them this time tomorrow.

17th over: India 79-0 (Jaiswal 37, Rohit 42) Ben Foakes is doing a lot of shouting, trying to keep his bowlers going in what’s a difficult period of play for them. But Bashir is milked for five singles and England just can’t create any pressure without the movement available to India’s quicks early doors and the overall class of their spinners.

16th over: India 74-0 (Jaiswal 34, Rohit 40) Hartley continues and Rohit bunts a single down the ground, then Jaiswal stretches to knock to cover for one more.

“I’m also in the Bazball moratorium camp,” writes Will Vignoles. “I love the ethos itself, but the relentless media focus on it does get in the way a bit. For opposition fans, they just point and laugh at how it’s failed and been found out (see Arun’s email), for the (many) self-flagellating England fans, it’s an opportunity to say I told you so and gripe about how they don’t play “proper” test cricket. The simple fact is that as most people thought, India are a better team, with better players. England have fought hard and have produced some good individual performances, but their middle order has been poor and while their bowling has performed well, they’ve really missed a strike option bar Root’s golden arm. India have functioned much better as a team since the first Test, with a phenomenal bowling attack that can contain and attack and pounces on any sign of weakness, and some brilliant batters playing exceptionally well. It’s been a much more fun series than I was expecting, and that’s something. I will be thankful to have a bit of time off from reading endless Bazball obituaries though.”

15th over: India 72-0 (Jaiswal 33, Rohit 39) Chalé! Jaiswal absolutely massacres a sweep through backward square to give him 1000 Test runs quicker than any other Indian opener and slower only than Vinod Kambli – a cautionary tale, I guess, but this boy is a superstar. On the balcony at the start of this over we saw Shubman Gill, in puffa, rehearsing big shots, and India look pretty well set for the next few years. A single follows, and that is drinks.

14th over: India 66-0 (Jaiswal 28, Rohit 38) We keep seeing shots of Paul Collingwood wearing severe expression; does he have any others? Er, probably not at the moment, because Hartley drags down so Rohit rams over long on for six, then Bairstow has to dive on the fence to turn four into two. I can’t lie, a colossal first-innings deficit looks possible here.

13th over: India 57-0 (Jaiswal 27, Rohit 30) Bashir’s come back well from that first-over mauling and this latest twirl costs him a single to Jaiswal.

“England have not been competitive due to Bazball,” writes Arun Naranayan. “They have been competitive only because Indian batting has not collectively performed in any innings. The highest score is less than 450, even with pretty normal pitches. And this is probably due to poor form and the number of debutants. That might change this time though. And Bazball, or at least Bazball-induced scrambled minds, including Root’s horrific hoicks in Hyderabad and Rajkot and Bairstow today, probably cost them the series. Scrambled because English batsman dont seem to know when to attack and when to defend anymore, a key Test-match skill.”

Yeah, I don’t agree with this. The way England’s spinners have bowled is to do with the Bazball environment, and what’s cost the series is India being a miles better team, however you slice it.

12th over: India 56-0 (Jaiswal 26, Rohit 30) Rohit’s been becalmed of late but when Hartley drops short, he flicks him for four through midwicket … then flips him over midwicket for four more. India are cruising here, and these could be a long few days for the tourists. Idiots, slow down!

REVIEW! NOT OUT!

12th over: India 47-0 (Jaiswal 25, Rohit 22) Jaiswal takes a single to log on then Rohit misses with a sweep and Foakes is certain he heard something so England review!

11th over: India 47-0 (Jaiswal 25, Rohit 22) Shoaib needed that, a maiden to quieten any doubts. He’s got a lot of confidence, I think, but the clattering Jaiswal handed him, along with his side’s poor batting performance, will have made him think. Otherwise, the OBO is, aside from cricket, for sharing joy and love so here’s an album that’s elevating my life currently: Smallgod’s Bridging the Gap. If we get a better single this year than the Black Sherif collab Fallen Angel, we’re doing very well.

10th over: India 47-0 (Jaiswal 25, Rohit 22) Ben Stokes badly needs to make something happen, but shy of trying himself or Root’s golden arm, he’s not much in the way of options. Three singles milked from this latest Hartley over, and there’s no sense of pressure building – well there is, but on Bashir, who’s got to wheel in knowing his last effort went for 18. He’ll be delighted Rohit is on strike.

“If you had to make your international debut for India, with all its associated stress, where better to do so than in your home country, on the type of wicket that you’ve played on pretty much all your life, and in a team alongside half a dozen of the world’s current best players?” wonders Peter McDonald. “Stokes’ team have at least made a game of it at several points in each match. Ok, they couldn’t or didn’t sustain it, and poor shot choices cost them wickets at crucial moments, but the core of this Indian team is seriously good, and England have lost series here far more abjectly and less entertainingly in the past. Were they perfect? Far from it. Were they awful? Ditto. Did the selectors learn things? I bloody well hope so. Two or three new spinners, (maybe prepare some nice pitches for them back home?), a clearer appreciation of how aggressive to be and when, and an awareness that people seem to be enjoying playing for England. It doesn’t beat winning for England, but it’s not for the want of trying.
I just wish that young boys and girls were not being shut out from watching by paywalls. (Ok, old blokes too…)”