India batted themselves into a position of strength in the first Test on a difficult day for England.
Having bowled out the tourists on day one for 246, and moved to 119 for one at stumps, India knew three solid sessions at the crease would set themselves up to claim an early advantage in the five-match series.
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They did so thanks to useful contributions from KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja as the home side closed day two on 421 for seven, a lead of 175 runs.
England needed quick wickets this morning and managed one from just the fourth delivery of the day, Yashasvi Jaiswal adding four runs to his overnight 76 not out before falling caught and bowled to Joe Root.
Shubman Gill made 23 before becoming Tom Hartley’s first wicket in Test cricket while Shreyas Iyer also got in and got out, contributing 35.
Rahul continued to impress and he and Jadeja pushed the score beyond England’s first-innings total before the former departed 14 runs shy of a century, his 86 coming from 123 balls.
Stumps on Day 2 in Hyderabad! 🏟️#TeamIndia move to 421/7, lead by 175 runs 🙌
See you tomorrow for Day 3 action 👋
Scorecard ▶️ https://t.co/HGTxXf8b1E#INDvENG | @IDFCFIRSTBank pic.twitter.com/sul21QNVgh
— BCCI (@BCCI) January 26, 2024
Jadeja and wicketkeeper KS Bharat frustrated England’s attempts to get at the lower order, playing patiently while knowing there was plenty of time left in the game.
Root eventually struck to get rid of Bharat (41) and a run-out accounted for Ravichandran Ashwin (one) but Axar Patel – justifying his place in the side due to his batting ability – played nicely to accompany Jadeja to the close.
Patel finished on 35 not out with Jadeja unbeaten on 81.
