India take control in first Test after England batters and spinners falter

An England team imbued with sunny optimism these past two years will need it an abundance over the next seven weeks, certainly if their dizzying opening day in Hyderabad is anything to go by. India, possibly smarting a little from all the pre-series focus on Bazball, appear in no mood to muck about.

Faced with a dry, turning pitch, plus the world’s most ruthless attack at exploiting such conditions, England’s 246 all out from 63.4 overs after the winning the toss – salvaged by a defiant 70 from Ben Stokes – did put them in the contest. Given it exceeded all but one of their totals during a harrowing 3-1 loss here three years ago, featuring a good number of the same players, it can be viewed as progress of sorts too.

But during the final session came a stark reminder of their much-trailed shortcomings as Yashasvi Jaiswal’s unbeaten 76 from just 70 balls bulldozed India to 119 for one from 23 overs in reply. It was a particularly chastening first outing for Tom Hartley, handed his cap the morning, nerveless enough to deliver 23 runs with the bat, only to see his first ball in Test cricket propelled over the mid-wicket boundary for six.

This was the first of two mighty blows from Jaiswal in Hartley’s opening over, with Stokes – one seamer in his quiver here – having thrust the new ball into the hands of his new left-armer. By stumps, Hartley had shipped 63 runs from nine wicketless overs, Stokes even burning the last of his reviews in a bid to kickstart the rookie’s day.

It may be here where the lack of warm-up cricket comes back to bite England. The elder statesmen among them may be able to tune-up for Test cricket the nets but a spin attack led by Jack Leach – himself only just back from a long lay-off – looked well short of grooving on this opening day. Not that this no-regrets England side would ever admit it.

Time will tell and, in fairness, no amount of preparation could bridge the gulf in spin-bowling experience here. This was spelled out as England tried to wriggle free from the shackles, Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja sharing six wickets to reach 503 as a pairing, overtaking Harbhajhan Singh and Anil Kumble as India’s deadliest duo.

Full report to follow ...