It wasn’t the most exciting day of Test cricket in Chennai on Saturday, as India safely got to stumps without losing a wicket after England posted 477 in their first innings.
At the end of day’s play, the hosts were 60/0 with KL Rahul and makeshift-opener Parthiv Patel unbeaten on 30 and 28 respectively. They still trail England’s first innings total by 417 runs.
On Twitter, there were congratulatory tweets from former English cricketers David Lloyd, Rob Key, Shaun Udal for Liam Dawson, who scored a Test half-century on debut.
On the other hand, former Indian cricketer and commentator Sanjay Manjrekar applauded the efforts of Patel who came out to open the innings after a shoulder injury to Murali Vijay. The 31-year-old had kept for 157 overs before being asked to fill in as an opener.
Here, we look at the top tweets from day two.
Well played L Dawson ....excellent batting
— David 'Bumble' Lloyd (@BumbleCricket) December 17, 2016
477 in the bank. Rahul struggling with form. Parthiv is a part-time opener. Fatigue of 157 overs. Fielder at Deep Point...seriously, Cook?
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) December 17, 2016
Kl Rahul looking solid n compact in this innings, absolutely brilliant.Controlled aggression is the key n 'fitness'.
— Deep Dasgupta (@DeepDasgupta7) December 17, 2016
India have started well. Not losing a wicket was a priority.
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) December 17, 2016
What a slow day of cricket. As slow as this Chennai pitch. #IndvEng
— Chetan Narula (@chetannarula) December 17, 2016
Top scores by a no.8 on Eng debut
— The Cricket Prof. (@CricProf) December 17, 2016
L DAWSON 65* v India, Chennai 2016
D Bairstow 59 v India, The Oval 1979
L Braund 58 v Aus, Sydney, 1901
Proper player @daws128
— Rob Key (@robkey612) December 17, 2016
Yes @daws128 5⃣0⃣ on debut 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏
— Shaun Udal (@shaggyudal) December 17, 2016
Hats off to Parthiv!
— Sanjay Manjrekar (@sanjaymanjrekar) December 17, 2016
Puts his hand up to do the tough job in tests. Yet again, 157 overs of keeping & ready to open the innings.🙏
STAT ALERT: Rahul/Parthiv is the 7th different opening pair in this series (4 by India, 3 by Eng) - the most in a series this millennium.
— Andy Zaltzman (@ZaltzCricket) December 17, 2016