Rahul, Sai Sudharsan fall on stroke of lunch to bring England respite
Carse and Stokes picked the two wickets while Jaiswal remained unbeaten on 42
ESPNcricinfo staff
20-Jun-2025 • 6 hrs ago
Yashasvi Jaiswal looked fluent in his first Test outing in England • Getty Images
Lunch India 92 for 2 (Jaiswal 42*, Rahul 42) vs England
England took two wickets in six balls on the stroke of lunch to change the complexion of the first session of the newly-minted Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy. India's openers, Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul, had been largely untroubled throughout their 91-run opening stand after being put in by Ben Stokes. But, Rahul and debutant Sai Sudharsan fell just before the interval.
Jaiswal batted through the first session of his first Test in England unscathed and traded crisply-struck boundaries with Rahul. The pair shared 16 fours, all through the off side, as England's seamers tried and failed to induce outside edges, and did not offer a catching chance for the first 114 minutes of the day.
The only scare for Jaiswal came when he was struck on the ribs by Brydon Carse, who shared the new ball with Chris Woakes in his first home Test. He otherwise scored fluently and batted with the same freedom he had shown in the most recent series between these teams, when he piled on 712 runs in five matches.
England were so desperate for a wicket that they burned an lbw review on a ball from around the wicket which pitched outside leg stump. Josh Tongue bowled with good pace and his inswinger trapped Jaiswal on the pad in his second over, but the decision to review was hugely optimistic and reflected their frustrations.
But Carse struck with a full, wide outswinger, which Rahul edged straight to Joe Root at slip for 42, and debutant Sudharsan strangled his fourth ball in Test cricket down the leg side to Jamie Smith off Stokes. England's double-strike left the game in the balance, and took some of the scrutiny off Stokes' decision to bowl first at the toss.