336/6: India’s score on Day 1 looks good. But when you factor in Yashasvi Jaiswal was the only batter with 179 whereas the next best score was 34 by Shubman Gill, it seems to be England’s day, not India’s. Former England captain Kevin Pietersen agreed. Even though he heaped praises on Jaiswal, he said England are ahead in 2nd IND vs ENG Test in Vizag.
Kevin Pietersen believes England would attack and score quickly with the Vizag pitch suited for batting on the first two days.
“One thing we know about England is when they come out to bat, they are going to attack, score quickly and score positively. They are not going to come in and bat the way India have batted today. I think that has put England ahead in the game,” Kevin Pietersen said at the end of Day 1 of IND vs ENG 2nd Test on JioCinema.
Yashasvi Jaiswal: The lone wolf
There were five 40+ partnerships with Yashasvi Jaiswal standing tall. He was the only batter who showed commitment to take the attack to England even when other batters kept falling after good starts.
After a 40-run opening stand with Jaiswal, Rohit Sharma fell. Then, Jaiswal added 49 runs with Shubman Gill.
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When Gill fell for 34, Jaiswal kept going with Shreyas Iyer, adding 90 runs. But then again, Iyer faltered again. However, Yashasvi Jaiswal led from the front with another 70-run stand with Rajat Patidar. When Patidar too failed to convert his start, departing for 32, Jaiswal added 52 runs with Axar Patel.
Kevin Pietersen hailed Jaiswal but also criticised other Indian batters for not supporting the youngster enough.
“Somebody else should have got hungry for runs with Jaiswal, and then it could have been a completely different story. India will be hoping that Ashwin can try and be that guy that should have been one of the other batters,” Kevin Pietersen said.
“I say that because there wasn’t any gremlin on the pitch on Day 1. The bounce was even and there wasn’t any crazy spin to make me feel that India should be more than 3 or 4 down,” added.
