"Hartley is playing his 1st games, Leach hasn't played in a while.."- Anil Kumble tears apart Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum

Former Indian skipper Anil Kumble decoded England’s mistake on day 1 in an interaction with Sports 18 after the end of the first day’s play on day 1. After bowling out England for 246, India finished day 1 on 119/1 with Yashasvi Jaiswal unbeaten on 70. 

Jaiswal decimated the England bowling attack, especially their spinners. He took a special liking to debutant Tom Hartley as he hit 10 fours and three sixes in his innings. The southpaw added an 80-run opening stand with skipper Rohit Sharma (24) and then added an unbeaten 39-run stand with Shubman Gill (14) till stumps on day 1. 

Anil Kumble while assessing England’s performance on day 1 said that they missed a trick by not using Joe Root on day 1 of the Test match. Root dismissed Jaiswal in the very first over of the Indian innings on day 2 to give England a big breakthrough early on to start the day. The southpaw chipped one straight to Root to get out caught and bowled for 80 as they fell just short of a well-deserved century. 

“I thought England missed a trick by not using Joe Root because he’s someone you can really turn the ball, and he has a good action. And there was Yashasvi Jaiswal, who is a left-hander, and we saw Ashwin trouble the left-handers. So England probably missed a trick,” Kumble said while speaking to Sports 18 after the first day’s play. 

England Spinners Need To Be Consistent: Anil Kumble

England pacer Mark Wood bowled just two overs on day 1 as England opted to operate with spinners for 21 overs on day 1. On day 2 it was the three spinners that started the first session as well. Hartley, Jack Leach, and Rehan Ahmed only managed to share a single wicket on the opening day of the 1st Test.

“I think it’s one, the length. I mean, they are not consistent at all on a surface where it’s assisting you a bit. We saw that with the Indian spinners. As soon as they bowled a good length, it was turning, so they got the lengths wrong. And then, when you want to spin, I mean first, is confidence. Hartley is playing his first game, Leach hasn’t really played in a while, and then he’s coming in. But if they have to come back in this game, the spinners need to be a lot more consistent,” Kumble added.

Meanwhile, it was Yashasvi Jaiswal who drew all the accolades on the first day of the Test match for his counter-attacking innings that took England on the back foot. Ravichandran Ashwin after the end of the day’s play praised the young Indian batter for his counter-attacking innings. However, the southpaw fell early on day 2 looking to score quickly and perishing in the process. 

“Somebody breaks through the system, doesn’t have any excess baggage, had a great time in the IPL, had a wonderful start to his first-class cricket. He’s literally not put a foot wrong. He’s walked into Test cricket, he’s taken it like a fish to water. His carefree approach is enabling him to play some wonderful shots. I am quite enjoying it. I get a feeling sometimes when he’s batting, I am seeing Rishabh Pant there. Both of them bat similarly to the left-arm spinner. Jaiswal has got a lot of shots, his range is pretty wide and the fearless approach at the moment is serving him really well” said Ashwin on Jaiswal.

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