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IMAGES from Day 1 of the 2nd Test played between India and England in Visakhapatnam, on Friday.
Yashasvi Jaiswal batted with supreme confidence for an unbeaten 179 off 257 balls that single-handedly drove India to 336 for six on day one of the second Test against England here on Friday and secured his place at the top of the order for the foreseeable future.
Unlike the series opener, Jaiswal made sure he converted his strong start into a big hundred but the other Indian batters failed to make the most of batting friendly conditions.
The 22-year-old now has two hundreds and as many fifties to his name in only his 10th Test innings.
Jaiswal, whose special effort comprised 17 boundaries and five sixes, had R Ashwin (5) by his side at stumps.
India made 111 runs in the final session for the loss of three wickets including Axar Patel (27 off 51) and K S Bharat (17 off 23). For England, debutant Shoaib Bashir and Rehan Ahmed picked up two wickets apiece.
Debutant Rajat Patidar (32 off 72) played one on to his stumps while offering a forward defence to leg-spinner Rehan Ahmed. A total of 93 overs were bowled with four spinners in operation.
The odd ball kept low even on the opening day but conditions remained favourable of the batters. However, the injury to Ravindra Jadeja has resulted in a longer tail, which will need to wag for India to get anywhere close to 500.
Veteran James Anderson, playing his first game since July last year, was the most economical and effective bowler for England, returning figures of 17-3-30-1.
However, England's inexperienced spin attack, including debutant Shoaib Bashir, Tom Hartley, Rehan Ahmed and Joe Root, could not extract much out of the surface.
The 20-year-old Bashir was the pick of the spinners as he was able to generate more bounce due to his tall structure. The 6'4" tall off-spinner got the prized wicket of Rohit Sharma in the first session before he had Axar caught at backward point towards the end of the day.
Young opener Yashasvi Jaiswal struck a high-quality hundred to push India to 225 for three at tea on day one of the second Test against England in Visakhapatnam on Friday.
Jaiswal (125 batting off 185 balls) changed the tempo of the innings with his attractive strokeplay in the second session in which India collected 122 runs in 32 overs.
Jaiswal and debutant Rajat Patidar (25 batting off 47) were at the crease at tea.
Shreyas Iyer (27 off 59) was the lone batter to be dismissed in the afternoon. The southpaw, who took 89 balls to reach his half-century in the morning, took another 62 deliveries to complete his second Test century.
The 22-year-old had made 171 on his Test debut in the Caribbean last year.
He slammed 14 four and three sixes in his unbeaten knock that came off 185 balls.
The standout feature of Jaiswal's innings was his ability to hit the ground and aerial shots with equal ease.
His fearless approach was best summed when he stepped out to smash let-arm spinner Tom Hartley for a six over long on to get to three figures. He raised his arms in celebration with the Vizag crowd and teammates duly applauding his special feat.
Jaiswal played a lot of cuts off the spinners in the early part of his innings but turned to drives and lofted drives against them in second session.
He mainly attacked Hartley, collecting three straight fours in the 45th over, including drives past the bowler and through extra cover. His inside out shots were also a treat to watch, especially the six off Joe Root.
He shared a 90-run stand with Iyer, who once again failed to capitalized on a start. It came as no surprise that Anderson employed the short ball tactic against Iyer, who was up to the task on the day.
However, he tried to cut one off Hartley and ended up under edging to Ben Foakes, who took a sharp catch behind the stumps.
After his dismissal, Patidar joined Jaiswal and looked comfortable from the get go. He also did not shy away from playing the reverse sweep.
England's debutant spinner Shoaib Bashir got the prized wicket of India captain Rohit Sharma but Yashasvi Jaiswal's second successive half century steered the cautious hosts to 103 for two at lunch on day one of the second Test in Visakhapatnam on Friday.
Jaiswal (51 batting off 92) had the company of Shreyas Iyer (4 batting) at the break after the fall of Rohit (14 off 41) and Shubman Gill (34 off 46), who looked good before James Anderson had him caught behind with a beauty.
India expectedly decided to bat first on a flat surface and made three changes to their playing eleven, bringing in debutant Rajat Patidar, Kuldeep Yadav and Mukesh Kumar for K L Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja and Mohammed Siraj respectively.
Found guilty of throwing away their wickets in Hyderabad, the opening combine of Rohit and Jaiswal batted in a sedate fashion especially in the first hour of play, collecting only 40 runs in 16 overs.
England opened the bowling with lone pacer in the playing eleven, Anderson, and off-spinner Joe Root. Anderson was accurate and frugal in his opening spell, giving away only six runs in five overs.
The surface had minimal help for him but the 41-year-old still made life tough for Rohit by targeting his stumps. It was very unlike Rohit to not to go for his shots and his innings ended without a boundary.
The India captain eventually fell in the 18th over when off-spinner Bashir got one to turn sharply and Rohit flicked it straight to Ollie Pope at leg-slip.
Jaiswal, on the other hand, showed much more positive intent.
While being watchful, Jaiswal was quick to punish the loose balls in the first hour of play before stepping on the accelerator.
He used the sweep shot sparingly and got majority of his boundaries with the cut shot.
Jaiswal whipped a full toss from Bashir for the first six of his innings before reaching his half-century with a four through point.
Gill was outsmarted by Anderson in his second spell as the veteran pacer got one to straighten slightly from the off-stump to get the outside edge from the batter.