The IND vs ENG Rajkot Test will resume on day 2 with India at 326/6. Ravindra Jadeja is unbeaten on 110 and with him is Kuldeep Yadav who was sent as a nighwatchman.
India made 4 changes to their playing XI heading into this Test. Dhruv Jural and Sarfaraz Khan were handed their debut caps while Mohd Siraj replaced Mukesh Kumar and Ravindra Jadeja replaced Axar Patel.
Team India were rocked early by England and reduced to 33/3 in the first hour. That was when Rohit and Jadeja joined hands and put on a 204-run stand to bring India back into the game. They dug in deep and scored at a fair clip. India did not lose any wickets in the second session.
Mark Wood dismissed Rohit for 131 in the third and final. Sarfaraz Khan on his Test debut scored a gutsy 62 off 66 deliveries and added a 77-run with Ravindra Jadeja.
The debutant was unfortunately run out in the 82nd over of the Indian innings due to a miscommunication with Jadeja. However, by then he had played more than a big role in taking India’s innings forward. Jadeja scored his fourth Test ton and remained unbeaten at the stumps.
The England bowlers were impressive especially Mark Wood who was able to manufacture wickets on a good first-day batting track in Rankot. He looked the most threatening England bowlers and bowled to his captain’s plans. James Anderson had a wicketless day despite bowling 19 overs.
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Ben Stokes made rapid bowling and field changes and dismissed Rohit Sharma on the short-ball ploy. After leaving a lot of deliveries, Rohit eventually tried to pull one that did not have the good part of the bat, resulting in his dismissal.
India will look to pile on as many as possible on day 2 with Dhruv Jurel and Ravichandran Ashwin still to come. Jadeja becomes key from here on and needs to stitch important partnerships with the lower order. The conditions are still expected to be a good one for batting with runs in store on day 2.
IND vs ENG Day 2 Weather Report and Pitch Report of Rajkot Test, 2024
The television commentators deemed the Rajkot pitch to be the best batting pitch so far in the series. Despite that the youngsters in Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaisal could not make the best of the conditions. Rohit and Jadeja’s partnership proved that the wicket was a good one for batting and it needs application. There was enough evidence of turn on this wicket to keep the spinners interested. Mark Wood will be a threat given how he bowled on day 1.
Speaking about the weather conditions for the IND vs ENG 2nd Test day 2, the temperature will be around 35 degrees throughout the day with the sun blazing throughout the day’s play. As always the first hour will be crucial for the batting team with the overnight moisture in the wicket expected to play a role. Conditions for batting will be best in the second session. There is no chance of rain on day two.
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