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India vs England: Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul notch up first fifty-run opening stand for India at Lord's since 1952

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India vs England: Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul notch up first fifty-run opening stand for India at Lords since 1952

London, Aug 12: India openers KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma batted exceedingly well on the opening day of the second Test against England as they stitched a fifty partnership for the first time at the Lord's cricket ground for the first time since 1952.

Rahul and Rohit opened the Indian innings after English captain Joe Root elected to bowl first. The duo started batting cautiously against the quality England pace attack led by James Anderson and blunted the new ball brilliantly under testing conditions.

The duo thus notched up their second fifty-stand in consecutive Tests to give the tourists a decent start. With their gritty partnership, the duo claimed a record for themselves. This is the first opening partnership of fifty runs in the first innings for India in Tests at Lord's after legendary Vinoo Mankad and Pankaj Roy forged a partnership in excess of 50 for India at the Home of Cricket back in 1952.

With that fifty-run opening stand, Rahul has been involved in four out of the last five fifty-plus opening partnerships by Indians in England. The stand between the duo was also the first instance of India's opening partnership surviving 20+ overs in Tests outside Asia since 2011. In the last decade i.e. between 2011 and 2020, there was not a single 50-plus partnership for Indian openers but in 2021 they've crossed the 50-run mark five times in nine innings.

The duo converted it into a century stand and it was the first hundred-run opening partnership in England since 2007. India went on winning the series in 2007 under the leadership of Rahul Dravid.

Later, Rohit went on notching up his 13th Test half-century off 83 deliveries. It was his first fifty-plus score in England in the longer format.

Earlier in the day, the Indians made a cautious start to the second Test under cloudy skies as the openers guided them to 46 for no loss. Rohit was batting on 35 and Rahul was unbeaten on 10 when a heavy drizzle forced the players indoors and an early lunch was taken.

On a start-stop Day 1 of the second Test, Rahul and Rohit batted with determination and focus, leaving tempting deliveries outside the off-stump. England used Sam Curran, James Anderson and Ollie Robinson in the first session, and did not use the extreme pace of Mark Wood.

Story first published: Thursday, August 12, 2021, 19:23 [IST]
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