GALLERY: Kohli saves India's blushes

Sport360 staff 16:19 13/11/2016

England’s bowlers put India under a lot of pressure, but the hosts managed to bat through for a draw in the first Test of the five-match series at Rajkot on Sunday.

Indian captain Virat Kohli played an important role, staying unbeaten on 49 at the end, as his side lost wickets at regular intervals in the final session.

Earlier in the day, England captain Alastair Cook had declared with a 309-run lead on the board. Cook, himself, was the stand-out batsman for the visitors in the second innings, registering his 30th Test century.

It was also the opening batsman’s fifth century in Test cricket on Indian soil – the highest for any touring batsman ever.

Debutant Haseeb Hameed showed why he is considered as one of the big hopes of English cricket as he scored a fluent 82, largely undeterred by the pressure that comes with playing Test cricket.

India never really had enough time to try and win the match, and things got worse for them when veteran opener Gautam Gambhir fell for a duck. They were two wickets down at tea, with Cheteshwar Pujara deciding not to review a leg-before-decision when it looked like the ball had clearly pitched outside the leg stump.

It was a frantic last session for India, losing as many as four wickets, but the duo of Kohli and local lad Ravindra Jadeja played out the final 10 overs with minimum risk.

Leg-spinner Adil Rashid was, once again, England’s most impressive bowler – picking up three wickets in India’s second innings.

After the events in Rajkot, England will be high on confidence going into the second Test at Visakhapatnam which begins on Thursday.

Recommended