Jaiswal (179*) stands tall, but England chip away in Visakhapatnam

Opener Yashasvi Jaiswal batted throughout the day for his unbeaten 179 (Photo: Getty Images)

England battle through day in the dirt

If England’s win in Hyderabad was remarkable, then this long day in the field was more typical of a tour of India. For the tourists to take six wickets perhaps means they had the better of it.

Bar Anderson, this England attack is vastly inexperienced. This was only the second time in Test history that England have had two bowlers – Ahmed and Bashir – under the age of 21.

And yet, England stuck to their task. There was the occasional bad ball and error in the field, but it says much about their spirit they were able to chip away at the other end, while Jaiswal compiled his masterful knock.

Perhaps mindful of the wasteful way they batted in the first innings in Hyderabad, India ground it out, often below three runs an over. One wonders how England might have approached their batting in such conditions.

The pitch currently seems true, with the potential to deteriorate quickly later in the match. When England come to bat, they must make their first innings count.

Ultimately, India were indebted to Jaiswal and, even despite his knock, England could yet run through the lower order and then bat well enough to earn a first-innings lead.

Latest step on Jaiswal’s rise to superstardom

Jaiswal is the rising star of Indian cricket, one with a backstory to match his incredible talent. At the age of 12 he moved to Mumbai to further his cricket and sold street food to get by.

Spotted by a coach playing at one of the famous maidans, he was set on a course to be player of the tournament at the 2020 Under-19 World Cup, after which he signed a huge deal to play for Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League.

Now he is illuminating the Test format. This was his second hundred in only his sixth Test, laced with handsome strokes through the off side. Two of his five sixes were glorious lofts over extra cover and another, over long-on off Tom Hartley, took Jaiswal to three figures.

Bar a flurry of 41 runs off 30 balls in the run-up to his century, Jaiswal’s scoring was measured. He added 90 with Shreyas Iyer and 70 with debutant Rajat Patidar. Joe Root, at slip, got fingertips on flashing edges when Jaiswal had 73 and 155.

When Axar somehow cut Bashir to point deep into the evening session, England had the opportunity to make it their day.

KS Bharat arrived and attacked but he too fell to a loose one from Ahmed, leaving Ravichandran Ashwin to support Jaiswal to the close. (BBC Sport)