Manchester: Sai Sudharsan made the opportunity count in his comeback game with a fifty while Rishabh Pant suffered another injury as India played the old-fashioned way to reach 264 for four at stumps on day one of the fourth Test here on Wednesday.
At stumps, Ravindra Jadeja (19 batting off 37) and Shardul Thakur (19 batting off 36) were holding fort in fading light.
Put in to bat in overcast conditions, Indian openers KL Rahul (46 off 98 balls) and Yashasvi Jaiswal (58 off 107) put on 94 runs for their highest stand of the series before Sudharsan (61 off 151) produced a dogged knock under pressure to justify his selection over Karun Nair.
Batting alongside Sudharsan, Pant (37 retired hurt off 48) had just started flexing his muscles before missing a reverse hit off a full ball from Chris Woakes.
The impact of the ball was on Pant’s right foot, leaving him in a lot of pain and eventually he had to be taken off the field in a golf cart. There were also blood stains on the foot, enough to unsettle the Indian fans and the dressing room. Pant had come into this must-win game after recovering from a finger injury he suffered while keeping during the Lord’s Test.
The sun stayed away for the majority of the day but the slow nature of the pitch gave the batters enough time to tackle the extra pace of Jofra Archer.
While Sudharsan was at the crease, he looked comfortable and also had luck going his way, having been dropped down the leg side on 20 by keeper Jamie Smith off Ben Stokes.
He rode that luck to play a couple of pull shots off Archer before playing a crisp back foot punch off Stokes.
The England captain, however, kept dragging an odd ball down the leg side in his effort to induce an edge off Sudharsan’s bat before resorting to the short ball tactic. Sudharsan was up to the task until he pulled one straight into the hands of Brydon Carse at fine leg.
The young Indian batter was watchful at the start of the innings, scoring only off balls pitched on middle and leg. He flicked Archer for his first four before cover driving Liam Dawson.
Until his injury, Pant played his usual way, successfully sweeping Archer before dispatching Carse for a six down the ground.a