India found the going difficult against England's fast bowlers on a gloomy first day of the fifth Test at Edgbaston. The visitors' top order was blown away while their score was still in two digits and it was left to Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer to provide them an impetus. Pant, as is normally the case, put on a show whenever he could even in the difficult conditions and one of those seemed to leave veteran fast bowler James Anderson amused.
The incident happened in the 28th over when Pant jumped out of the crease and smacked Anderson straight back down the ground for a four. Anderson and Pant then had a chat with each other with smiles on their faces. It looked like a pleasant chat, although it was clear what they were telling each other.
Pant has a history of playing audacious shots against the England great. He had earlier hit Anderson for a six with a reverse sweep during a Test match between the two teams in Ahmedabad. However, playing Anderson in England is a different kind of challenge, as his team mates found out on Friday.
{{/usCountry}}Pant has a history of playing audacious shots against the England great. He had earlier hit Anderson for a six with a reverse sweep during a Test match between the two teams in Ahmedabad. However, playing Anderson in England is a different kind of challenge, as his team mates found out on Friday.
{{/usCountry}}Anderson had dismissed both of India's openers, Shubman Gill and Cheteshwar Pujara on the first day and later got the wicket of Shreyas Iyer. Virat Kohli and Hanuma Vihari, meanwhile, were dismissed by Matthew Potts.
Pant then led a counter punch from India with Ravindra Jadeja at the other end. The pair brought up their fifty-run stand off just 55 balls, with Pant getting them to the mark with two fours and a six off Jack Leach. He reached his 10th half century with a boundary as well, reaching 53 in 51 balls with a well timed cut off Leach. The pair managed to see India through to the end of the second session with their partnership on 76 off 101 balls. Pant remained on 53 off 52 while Jadeja was on 32 off 65.