As India were made to toil on a flaccid Chennai pitch by England batsmen, the players felt the heat, too, and it was evident several times over the course of England’s innings. On Day 3, Rishabh Pant made an error behind the wickets and that left Ravichandran Ashwin frustrated. Pant missed a straightforward stumping chance off Ashwin to dismiss batsman Jack Leach and Ashwin, who bowled a staggering 55.1 overs in the first innings, was left dejected. The off-spinner’s reaction said it all and Leach went on to remain unbeaten on 14 off 57 balls.

#INDvsENG #RishabhPant doing #RishabhPant pic.twitter.com/ipfUUIAJqm

— Ravi1 (@1RaviR) February 7, 2021

The first two days of the first Test belonged to England as Joe Root’s magnificent 218 helped the visitors to an imposing 578 after winning the toss and batting first. 

The Indians weren’t disciplined in the field as evident from this missed stumping chance and the 20 no-balls that the bowlers bowled. 

In addition to Root’s double hundred in his 100th Test, Dominic Sibley made 87 and Ben Stokes hit 82. 

Ashwin finished with figures of 3 for 146, dismissing Rory Burns, Ollie Pope and James Anderson. 

Pant, who recently starred in India’s Test series win against Australia, had seven byes written against his name. 

Promoted

Ahead of the first Test, India captain Virat Kohli had confirmed that Pant will continue as the wicket-keeper as India showed faith in the 23-year-old ahead of the more experienced Wriddhiman Saha. 

“He (Pant) has had impact performances in Australia recently. He is in good space. We want him to build on this along with him improving all aspects of the game, which will happen with more game time,” Kohli had said on the eve of the first Test.