Oval Test: Joe Root falls cheaply after Shardul Thakur’s rearguard as India struggle again on 13-wicket Day 1

India saved themselves within the contest after one other insipid batting show from their huge weapons, because of Shardul Thakur’s counter-attacking 57 and captain Virat Kohli’s stylish 50 on Day 1 of the 4th Test towards England on the Oval in London. Jasprit Bumrah and Umesh Yadav gave India an enormous raise by selecting up 3 wickets, together with that of hazard man Joe Root earlier than the 2 groups headed to Stumps on Thursday the place 13 wickets fell.

Umesh Yadav shifted the steadiness barely in India’s favor by getting the massive wicket of Joe Root, who had hit 3 lots of in as many Tests within the sequence, with a magnificence that nipped again and hit the highest of off-stump.England vs India, 4th Test Day 1 HighlightsEngland went to stumps on 53 for 3 as Dawid Malan (26*) was unbeaten together with nightwatchman Craig Overton (1*). The hosts trailed India’s first Innings whole by 138 runs as bowlers dominated the opening day at Oval which didn’t have any demons on the pitch.Umesh Yadav picks up the massive wicket of Joe Root.Live – https://t.co/OOZebPnBZU #ENGvIND pic.twitter.com/FgPxW0AsDy— BCCI (@BCCI) September 2, 2021Joe Root, who just lately returned to the highest of the ICC Test Batting Rankings after 6 years, received off to a quick begin regardless of Jasprit Bumrah selecting up England openers Rory Burns and Haseeb Hameed within the 4th over of the England innings. Root was comfortably knocking off singles and enjoying these lower pictures to race to 21.However, Umesh Yadav, who’s enjoying his first Test of the sequence, produced a superb one to citadel Root on 21 to offer India the sting on the finish of the day’s play.Earlier within the day, India openers Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul started effectively, seeing off the opening half-hour however Chris Woakes eliminated the senior opener to set off a top-order collapse. India had been diminished to 29 for 3 after one other failure from Cheteshwar Puajra within the first innings.Virat Kohli reveals glimpses of return to formIn a transfer that helped elevate eyebrows, Ravindra Jadeja was promoted to No. 5 as he walked into bat forward of vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane and wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant. However, the transfer didn’t work for India as Jadeja fell proper after the Lunch break for 10.Ajinkay Rahane’s struggles continued because the vice-captain appeared edgy in his 14-run keep earlier than being taken out by Craig Overton.However, captain Virat Kohli confirmed indicators of return to type as he hit his twenty seventh Test fifty. The India skipper was dropped on 22 by Joe Root however there have been just a few drives and punches that had been glimpses of his classic self. However, the star batsman fell proper after attending to his fifty, troubled by the road exterior his off-stump, this time by Ollie Robinson.Pant’s woes in England continued and the wicketkeeper-batsman threw his wicket away whereas attempting to hit Chris Woakes into the stands for 9.Shardul’s gorgeous 36-ball 57India had been wanting down and out at 127 for 7 however all-rounder Shardul Thakur, who returned to the XI after the primary Test, hit a counter-attacking 57 from simply 36 balls. Shardul went after every England bowler and performed his pictures with a whole lot of conviction.The all-rounder broke Ian Botham’s document for the quickest fifty in England as he received there with a pull shot for six in simply 31 balls. It was additionally the second quickest fifty by an Indian batsman in Test as he fell in need of Kapil Dev’s mark (30 balls towards Pakistan in 1982) by simply 1 ball.Shardul hit 7 boundaries and three sixes and stitched a 63-run stand with Umesh Yadav as India stretched their first innings whole to 191.Also Read | Oval Test: India are overestimating Ravindra Jadeja’s batting capacity abroad, says Sanjay Manjrekar