England bowling coach Tim Southee gave a nod to the Indian team after they put up a good show on the first day of the Test at Headingley. By the end of the day India were 359 for 3, thanks mainly to their captain Shubman Gill, opener Yashasvi Jaiswal and vice-captain Rishabh Pant.
Southee said the Indian team are skilled cricketers no matter how many games they play. “They’re good cricketers,” he said. He particularly praised Jaiswal and Gill. “Look at Jaiswal, he’s just starting out and has had a great start to his Test career. And then there’s Shubman Gill who had a great innings in his first Test as captain,” he said.
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He also said the Indian openers handled the early pressure well, with KL Rahul leaving the balls he needed to and Jaiswal playing confidently.
Southee also acknowledged England captain Ben Stokes as a key player for his team. “He’s someone who can change the game and we saw that today when he took a couple of wickets. When he’s in form it’s hard to take the ball away from him.”
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Jaiswal set the tone with a 101 off 159 balls with 16 boundaries and a six. Gill then took over with a calm 127 off 175 balls with 16 fours and a six and helped India to their highest first day total in Tests in England. Pant chipped in with 65 not out off 102 balls with six fours and two sixes as he and Gill added 138 runs for the unbroken 4th wicket. Today Gill went past 2000 runs in Tests and Pant went past 3000 runs.
