Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill made hay as England floundered after sticking India into bat on the opening day of the first Rothesay Test at Headingley.
A revamped India batting line-up, shorn of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, may have influenced Ben Stokes’ decision at a venue where the last six Tests have been won by the side fielding first.
India captain Gill said he, too, would have bowled but it proved a good toss to lose as his 58 not out alongside Jaiswal’s masterful 100 not out in an unbroken 123 lifted the tourists to 215 for two at tea.
Jaiswal would have been lbw on 45 but Brydon Carse overstepped, while Gill could have been run out on one but Ollie Pope was off target with his throw – but the India pair were otherwise largely untroubled.
Indeed, only cramp in his forearm, for which he needed treatment from the physio twice, in muggy heat seemed to hinder Jaiswal, whose 17 boundaries all came in the arc between backward point and mid-off.
Jaiswal, player of the series when these sides met in India 18 months ago following two double hundreds, put on 91 with KL Rahul before Carse made the breakthrough on the stroke of lunch.
England’s bid for early wickets meant they over-pitched or offered width, feeding Jaiswal’s drive and cuts, but Carse found a hint of movement away to take Rahul’s outside edge on 42 which was gobbled up by Joe Root.
Debutant Sai Sudharsan had a brief stay, strangled down the leg-side by Stokes with the last ball before lunch, but it was still India’s session, even if 91 without loss became 92 for two.
A direct hit from Pope at midwicket would have run out Gill when play resumed but the England vice-captain missed and to compound the situation, the ball whizzed away to the boundary.
"Oh, that's out!" 👀 Eagle-eyed Stuart Broad correctly calls an LBW despite a no-ball 😅 pic.twitter.com/zqxiXKtLpK
— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) June 20, 2025
Worse was to follow as Carse’s inswinging yorker thudded into Jaiswal’s boot first before he dug it out with his bat. It was plumb lbw but Carse breaching the front-foot line made the decision redundant.
Shoaib Bashir was greeted into the attack by being cut away first ball by Jaiswal, who looked ruffled when Josh Tongue went short but then extraordinarily belted him over deep point for his first six.
Gill was totally unflappable and a capable foil for Jaiswal, who took three fours in an over off Carse before a single off the last ball took him to a fifth hundred in just his 20th Test – with the second fifty taking just 48 balls.
Stokes found Jaiswal’s edge in the final over before tea but the ball dropped short of Harry Brook, who palmed on to the helmet behind wicketkeeper Jamie Smith for five extra runs to end a miserable session for England.
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