They say there is no greater challenge for an international team than playing Test cricket in India, and England were given some harsh lessons on an absorbing opening day of the first Test in Hyderabad.

Having won the toss and elected to bat, England’s final score of 246 was probably 100 short of where they would have liked to have been, though in the end, they were once again indebted to captain Ben Stokes whose smart 70 helped them recover from 155-7.

There was plenty in the pitch, particularly for the spinners, but Stokes and to a lesser degree Jonny Bairstow and Joe Root, demonstrated there were runs to be made if good enough.

Things looked even easier for batting when it was India’s turn, and Yashasvi Jaiswal took a particular liking to Tom Hartley who was tasked with opening the bowling on debut.

Jaiswal had raced to 76 not out from only 70 balls by the close of play, but he is an ultra-aggressive player who has dominated bowling attacks in the IPL over the last few years. If ever anyone was going to score quickly, it was Jaiswal and opening partner Rohit Sharma, and I’m not sure batting will looks quite as easy on day two.

With Rohit gone, dismissed by Jack Leach, the scoring did slow, and the usually fluent Shubman Gill had to work hard for his 14 not out (43 balls). And as well as Jaiswal batted, he enjoyed some good fortune, Rohit too, as England burned three reviews in 14 overs.

Jaiswal and Gill will need to start again in the morning when India resume on 119-1, and as England’s innings demonstrated, starting is the hardest time to bat on a pitch like this. England need early wickets but there were some encouraging signs from Leach (9-2-24-1) and Hartley, who bowled some very good balls in among some poor stuff.

Jaiswal is clearly the key because Leach and Hartley would much prefer bowling to India’s right-hand heavy middle order, but if they can prize him out early, don’t bank on India going big. There is certainly enough happening and enough assistance from the pitch to keep England’s bowlers in the game.

One of the oldest adages about cricket in the subcontinent is that things can happen very quickly, and that has consistently been the case with this England team under Ben Stokes. 400 is still a long way away, so too is 350 against an India batting line-up missing Virat Kohli and having recently axed Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane.

There could certainly be an opening for England if they start well in the morning, so I’m happy to chance UNDER 350 INDIA FIRST INNINGS RUNS at 11/4 with Sky Bet.

Preview published at 1305 GMT on 25/01/24

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