IMAGES from Day 2 of the 1st Test between England and India at Headingley in Leeds on Saturday.
Nitish Kumar Reddy made a promise to himself post the Australia tour that he would improve his bowling.
Post-lunch, Pant brought up his half-century with a single before launching his third maximum, cementing his reputation as one of the game's most fearless stroke-makers in red-ball cricket.
Was it an injury? A missed opportunity? Captain Shubman Gill has an explanation-but it's not one many are buying.
'Ideally we would have wanted about 40 runs more'.
ndia will be very happy after a technical masterpiece from Rahul and the flamboyance and exuberance that you can imagine from Pant
The BCCI has amended its playing conditions, introducing a provision for "serious injury replacements" in multi-day domestic tournaments for the upcoming season.
Shubman Gill's early days as India's Test captain have stirred intense debate -- not just for his on-field decisions, but for a noticeable shift in persona.
While the young Indian team showed great resolve to earn a creditable draw in England, the series exposed several weaknesses that need urgent attention.
The ground brought sanity to the wild, soaring numbers for the batters in the series. The wicket had grass, and it made the batters struggle.
After hundreds upon hundreds of runs on flat tracks in the ongoing series so far, it took the green top at The Oval to finally produce the best day of the Indian summer, on the fifth and last Friday of the Test series.
'Whenever India bowls, Reiffel feels it's not out. Whenever India bats, he feels it's out.'
India's batting faltered under pressure as they suffered a 22-run defeat in the third Test against England, at Lord's.
'We've got some solid batsmen in the dressing room. And yeah, it's exciting in every way.'
'I just think we'll find another way to do it.'
As Team India gear up for the much-anticipated Test series against England starting on Friday, several players in the squad will draw confidence from their county cricket experience.
India skipper Shubman Gill on Wednesday said that levelling the five-match Test series in England would be a "great achievement" and he would return from his first assignment as captain a lot wiser.
He felt sticking to the old rules "is intentionally depleting a contest by making one of the teams effectively play with 10 men for four days of the match, on the back of bad luck".
While defending totals of 350 or more in 59 Tests, India have won 42, with their sole defeat coming against England at Edgbaston in 2022.
Pant also matched India's veteran batter Ajinkya Rahane, who was the last vice-captain to smash a century in each innings, doing so against South Africa in New Delhi, in 2015.
Yashasvi Jaiswal was "disappointed" on missing a century by a whisker, but amazed by Test captain Shubman Gill's "incredible" effort that powered India to a comfortable position at the end of the opening day of the second Test against England, at Edgbaston, on Wednesday.
England still have hopes of winning this game. This prognosis is based on their fourth innings exploits over the last three years and the fact that India galloped to 321 runs in 70 overs, suggesting the wicket isn't particularly tricky. However, the big difference from Leeds in June this year, or Birmingham in 2022, is that this track still has plenty of juice.
Former Australian skipper Mike Hussey has predicted that Ben Stokes will steal the show on his home turf during next month's Champions Trophy, saying that the England all-rounder can have the same seismic impact as South Africa heavy-hitter Lance Klusener had in the 1999 World Cup.
This was India's seventh defeat in their last nine matches as their poor run in Test cricket continues following successive series defeats against New Zealand at home and in Australia.
Former all-rounder and head coach Ravi Shastri has thrown his weight behind young Washington Sundar to be a 'genuine all-rounder for many, many years for India'.
Siraj, Krishna, Akash Shine as India's Pace Future Takes Shape
Who do you think should be part of the Indian team for the first Test against England?
'We obviously want to wheel him in, but we also want to respect where his body's at, and on the basis of that, we just felt that it wasn't worth including him in the squad.'
Atherton reckons that in his three years at the helm, the series against India is Stokes' sternest test of leadership qualities.
IMAGES from Day 1 of the 1st Test between England and India at Headingley in Leeds on Friday
India are yet to win a Test in Birmingham in nearly six decades -- boasting of a dismal record of seven losses and one draw in eight attempts.
"If anyone doubted he was ever a team man, they got to see it first-hand today. That requires more than just steel," Shastri said in a video posted by the BCCI on its website.
Southgate watched as KKR downed RR by one run and later took a trip down memory lane, recalling the time when he used to watch Test cricket 'all day long.'
Plenty of hopes will rest on the young shoulders of opener Yashasvi Jaiswal, who, at the age of just 23, has earned a reputation as one of the world's best openers in the longest format of the game.
There was much criticism of how South Africa managed to reach the final without playing either Australia and England in the two-year qualifying period.
England all-rounder Ben Stokes, born in New Zealand, played a crucial role in England's World Cup victory and he starred for the hosts in the final match against New Zealand.
England, who beat Pakistan by an innings and 47 runs in the first Test, will conclude the series with a third match in Rawalpindi from October 24.
From Jasprit Bumrah's much-anticipated return to the all-rounder conundrum, the playing XI could very well hold the key to seizing control of this historic series.
'Shubman Gill did not look as technically tight or calm as usual when he came out to bat on the fourth evening, but his team fought so hard on Monday in a fabulous Test.'
'It's also a great opportunity for myself and it's good to pass on a little bit of knowledge to the younger guys who haven't played as much Test cricket. And I am also learning from them.'
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