London: India lorded over England on the opening day of the five-Test series at Headingley in Leeds.
Given a chance to bat after Ben Stokes won the toss on a flat pitch, the visitors rode centuries from Yashasvi Jaiswal (101) and new skipper Shubman Gill (118 batting) to punish the inexperienced England bowling attack a daunting and amass a daunting 359/3 in 85 overs.
After Jaiswal put on 91 for the opening wicket with KL Rahul (42), the left-handed opener was involved in a rollicking partnership with Gill, the duo adding 129 classy runs for the third wicket.
And after Jaiswal’s dismissal, Gill and Rishabh Pant (65 batting) collaborated in another century partnership, having added 138 for the fourth wicket, and counting.
The twin centuries was a big statement by the young Indian team, which is without the retired trio of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Ravichandran Ashwin for the first time in 13 years.
Jaiswal has now slammed centuries on his Test debut, and also in his first Tests on Australian and English soil.
Gill, on the other hand, became only the fourth Indian captain to score a century in his debut innings as Test captain.
The 25-year-old thus joined an elite league comprising Vijay Hazare, Sunil Gavaskar and Virat Kohli.
Brief Scores (Day 1)
India 1st innings: 359/3 in 85 overs (Shubman Gill 127 batting, Yashasvi Jaiswal 101, Rishabh Pant 65 batting, KL Rahul 42).
