India v England 2024: KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja steer hosts to convincing first Test lead on day two

India have taken a commanding lead in the first Test against England after KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja produced fantastic displays with the bat on day two in Hyderabad.

The hosts finished the second day on 421-7 to go 175 runs ahead of England with Rahul’s knock of 86 and Jadeja’s unbeaten 81 setting the tone.

Both batters received a reprieve during the day as Rahul was dropped in the first over of the day by Ben Foakes, while Jadeja was given out on two occasions but they were both overturned.

England’s bowlers managed to put a difficult first day behind them with improved performances but they still struggled to find consistency on the pitch.

It was a memorable day for debutant Tom Hartley who took his first ever Test wickets for his country, while Joe Root also picked up two wickets.

There was more troubling news for England as spinner Jack Leach only managed to bowl 16 overs because of a knee issue.

It was eventful start to the day after Yashasvi Jaiswal hit Root for six in just the second ball of the opening over.

Root would go on to exact his revenge just two balls later when he caught and bowled Yashasvi Jaiswal, who had to depart after scoring 80 runs.

England almost completed the first over with a second wicket Rahul was dropped on nought by wicket-keeper Foakes which proved to be costly.

Rahul recovered from that shaky start and produced some excellent shots with bowlers Hartley and Rehan Ahmed on the receiving end.

Rahul went on to share half-century stands with Shreyas Iyer (35) and Jadeja after Hartley picked up his maiden Test wicket to dismiss Shubman Gill for 23.

The classy partnership between Rahul and Jadeja helped India take the lead and it was only broken when the former mistimed a shot off Hartley’s delivery, and was caught by Ahmed.

However, India’s momentum continued when KS Bharat joined the party and shared a 68-run partnership with Jadeja, before Root caught lbw for 41.

Just a few hours later, Ravi Ashwin and Jadeja were involved in an extraordinary mix up which saw the latter run out as England had their tails up.

However, the visitors couldn’t capitalise as AR Patel helped India ride the storm alongside Jadeja as both batters built up an unbeaten 63-run partnership to finish the day.

Jadeja will be looking to pick up 19 more runs to reach his century as India finished the day on 421-7.

“All of us have grown up on wickets like this,” Rahul told TNT Sports. “There is a bit of turn but the pace is a bit slow and it got slower and slower, which was a challenge. We didn’t have any targets in mind, we just wanted to put as many runs on the board as possible.

“I’m enjoying batting in the middle order. You get a bit more time in the dressing room to see what the conditions are like so you walk out with an idea of how the game is going. That is helping me play better.”

Root finished the day as the best of England’s spin bowlers with figures of 2-77 while Leach also took a wicket before being forced off the pitch due to injury.

TNT Sports caught up with England spin-bowling coach Jeetan Patel at the end of the day and he gave his assessment of his team’s bowling performance.

“Leach bumped his knee yesterday and he bumped it again today,” he said. “He would have been our guy to bowl all those overs so it is a shame for him as he was not able to move as good as he could have. He bowled really well considering.

“Tom [Hartley] had to take that on, Rehan bowled superbly, created some chances and added a bit of flair to the game, and so did Joe [Root]. The beauty of having so many spinners is you can share that.

“It was about short spells with the guys because Jack has that knee issue so we have to be careful with everyone else. You can’t just have one guy bowling 40 overs.

“It was a tough day for us but we are really proud of the way we kept coming ball after ball and creating opportunities. At some point things turn for you and we just have to keep on going.”

Speaking on TNT Sports’ commentary team, England legend Kevin Pietersen gave his opinion on James Anderson’s omission from the squad for the first Test.

“I don’t think he would have gone for many runs on this surface,” he said. “He would have got the ball reverse swinging, bowled wicket to wicket.

“He can bowl with control and has aura when he walks on the field. You need one bowler, at least, in trying conditions to hold the game.”

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