Three talking points from Day 2 of the India vs England 1st Test

The much-awaited opening Test match between hosts England and India has witnessed two gruelling days of hard-fought red-ball cricket at the Headingley in Leeds. A relatively inexperienced Indian batting line-up was asked to bat first and their openers showed brilliant temperament and confidence to keep the English bowlers at bay. However, it was the trio of Yashasvi Jaiswal, skipper Shubman Gill and Rishabh Pant who stood out with sensational centuries each to help India finish with 471 runs on the board. In reply, England are also very much alive in this 1st Test match with Ollie Pope notching up an amazing hundred on Day 2. Check out the three talking points from Day 2 of the India vs England 1st Test match. 

1. Rishabh Pant's brilliant hundred headlines Day 2 of India vs England 1st Test

Day 2 of the England vs India 1st Test match started with the duo of Shubman Gill and Rishabh Pant unbeaten at the crease and the English bowling attack desperately searching for wickets. Pant continued with his attacking brand of cricket, bringing up his 7th Test century with an exceptional one-handed shot for a six. With this milestone, Rishabh Pant has now overtaken MS Dhoni to score most Test centuries by an Indian wicket-keeper batter. This was his third Test hundred on the English soil with centuries at The Oval, Edgbaston in Birmingham and here at the Headingley in Leeds. 

2. India gets 471 all out after a late batting collapse

A mammoth partnership of 209 between Shubman Gill and Rishabh Pant came to an end with the Indian captain getting out in the 102nd over after having played a fantastic knock of 147 runs that included 19 fours and 1 six. After making a comeback to the Indian Test team, it was very much unfortunate that Karun Nair got dismissed for a four-ball duck as Ollie Pope took a great catch. England pacer Josh Tongue then quickly removed the well-set Rishabh Pant for a staggering innings of 134 runs that consisted of 12 fours and 6 sixes. 

Team India witnessed a poor late batting collapse as the visitors ended up losing as many as 7 wickets for just 41 runs. From 430 for 3, India were bowled out for a total of 471 runs in 113 overs. For England, the pace bowling duo of Josh Tongue and skipper Ben Stokes finished with four wickets each. 

3. Ollie Pope's 9th Test hundred keeps England alive in the ENG vs IND 1st Test match

England got off to a poor start as they ended up losing their opening batter Zak Crawley in just the opening over of the ENG vs IND 1st Test match as India's pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah provided the breakthrough. The duo of Ben Duckett and Ollie Pope then calmed down the English nerves with a fine partnership of 122 runs for the second wicket. Duckett continued his impressive form with another half-century before getting bowled out by Bumrah in the 29th over. 

With Duckett's dismissal, Jasprit Bumrah achieved the milestone of picking the most Test wickets by an Asian bowler in SENA Countries. However, just like the Border Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25, India's bowling attack showed over dependancy on Bumrah as the trio of Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna and Shardul Thakur lacked penetration and did not offer much of support. Bumrah once again troubled the hosts late on Day 2 with the prized scalp of Joe Root in the 47th over. But, Ollie Pope came with a superb performance while playing a smashing unbeaten knock of 100 runs that included 13 fours as England finished Day 2 of the opening Test match with 209 for 3 at stumps.