Just what India wanted, wrapping that innings up swiftly. England's 287 feels at least 100 runs short of par, but we'll know more by the end of today. Now it will be all eyes on James Anderson and Stuart Broad against India's top order. Back with you in a couple of moments
Max Walker: "Blessing in disguise to lose that wicket quickly for England. Get the quicks out there under the overcast conditions and rip out a few Indian batsmen early!"
Don't forget, readers joining us from India can watch this Test LIVE here.
John: "is swing likely to play a part now with anderson and broad, or will rashid be key to getting wickets?? what are the conditions like?" The key for England at home is almost always Anderson and Broad. Without early wickets will be very tough for Rashid
SM Curran c †Karthik b Mohammed Shami 24 (98m 71b 3x4 0x6) SR: 33.80
A reminder that Curran was dropped in the last over yesterday
Mohammad Shami was the pick of the quicks yesterday and gets the ball now. Three slips in place
END OF OVER:89 | 2 Runs | ENG: 287/9
- James Anderson2 (15b)
- Sam Curran24 (67b)
- Ravichandran Ashwin26-7-62-4
- Mohammed Shami19-2-64-2
Ashwin will begin the day, searching for a five-wicket haul
Hello everyone, all set for England's last pair to take them to 400? Pari: "If the ball's swinging , then 300 looks like a 400 for India."
Matthew Warwick: "This double hundred partnership is going to be incredible. "
10:55am All right, five minutes to start and Gnasher has his cuppa ready. He'll take you through the opening hour. I'll catch you later!
Ganesh: "If u've played cricket in the Chennai circuit, you would invariably face 2 ball from spinners - The floater outswinger and the unhittable ridiculous super slower ball. Sigh...those days. "
Michael: "If Malan fails the fitness test he can kiss this game and his spot goodbye. Optimum chances for no to little return. If it were me I'd play YJB at 4 and have one of Foakes/Clarke at 5 depending on the Stokes scenario. YJB's stats are good enough to play him as a bat only. If only Livingstone's injury hadn't happened he's a shoo-in too."
10:48am The football World Cup in Russia saw video assistant refereeing hit the headlines, but most experts agree VAR still needs some fixing. And this is where cricket can help. Here's what Sharda Ugra thinks football's VAR can learn from cricket's DRS.
Benny: "Root to take a hat trick of Vijay, Rahul and Kohli then physically rip his arm off and mic drop with it" --- Putting my pound on this.
Vishal Pawar: "@ Rossco, DK might have other ideas about your Pound!"
Guruprasad S: "@Varun in Shehil's comment: You say: "Yes but he's now developed one that goes away from the left hander too". As an off-spinner, isnt that Ashwin's stock/regular delivery? What is it about Ashwin 'developing it'?? --- Ah we were discussing about the ones he moves in the air, they curve away like a seamer's out/inswingers.
Ramakrishna: "@dez: Anderson making century!! I just got reminded of early 90's game when Chris Lewis made his maiden ton, and the legend goes that KapilDev's mother prayed for it too. Chennai game, I reckon. "
Rossco: "Currently having a sweepstake at work as to how long this pair will last. I've got a pound on Curran caught behind at 11.11am."
matt: "Good to see a full days cricket yesterday. 88 overs! Subcontinent teams (spinners) very good at getting them all in. Hope for the same today" --- I, for one, am looking forward to Root's 20 overs.
Ganesh: "What is with Malan? Why is he going through fitness test?" --- Don't think he is fully fit. Missed a couple of Blast games for Middlesex last week.
ravi: "@dez agreed with you. some assumption that kholi will bat today. Dhawan and vijay are going to bat through the day."
dez: "@Chris - some assumption there that Kohli will get to bat today. Curran & Anderson to bat out the day and score their maiden tons."
Dobell: "Malan seems to be having a fitness test. And he doesn't look especially as if he's passing it. Also... it seems the fact that India are batting has led to more people making last-minute decision to buy tickets."
Surya: "If Kohli wants to fire himself up I recommend him to sit on top of a stove. It's ridiculous that commentators and rest justify abuse on others as an excuse for motivating one self up . That's how not life should be . Neither should cricket be "
Ajay: "Ashwin has always had the outswinger to the right hander. The Dukes ball made it more pronounced. Ashwin has been preparing for this tour for the last 24 months. #PreparationPaysOff you know."
Gitanshu: "Agree with you Chris, that's how he has been though. Loves performing under pressure. Hope he backs it with a fantastic knock."
Ajit: "@ Chris Kohli excels when he puts some pressure on himself. That's the motivation for him. Lets wait as see his innings "
Snehil: "The outswinger that Ashwin used yesterday was not something he had tried for the first time. He used to bowl a lot of those when he opened the bowling for India in ODIs and T20Is. I think it is a much better variation than the carom ball or all the leg break stuff he has been experimenting with. And why is he describing all his variations in detail in the interview? It will only help the England batsman." --- Yes but he's now developed one that goes away from the left hander too. Quite stunning and I'm glad he explained how. The English analysts have seen it much before his explanation, you can bet on it...
Chris: "This Root / Kohli mic drop thing appears to be handbags and not much more. But it is interesting that Kohli would put the extra pressure on his innings today from this when his record in England is so comparatively modest. A low score today and he looks a little bit silly."
R Ashwin: "[Pitch] could be a bit tacky, but we'll have to wait and see. The fizz went out as the ball got older. It's a slow pitch."
Srihari: "Morning to you Varun. Just can't wait for the start of the day. Been lingering around the cricinfo website and checking out every single post day content from around 10 a.m. for a 3.30 p.m. start. (IST). Cannot ask for a better first day of an overseas series. Hope Vijay and Rahul give a good start after Dhawan inevitably edges Anderson to cook in the first over. " --- As they say...that escalated quickly...
10:12am Here's more from George Dobell:
India having a huddle; few England guys playing football. Anderson having throw-downs. Root having a bowl. Sun beginning to come out.
"Anderson preparing to bat, Root preparing to bowl. What could possibly go wrong?" asks co-commentator Andrew McGlashan, who will join you later today!
Ah, Joe Root says he'd initially said "no" to the second run. The rest of his run-out sequence was a rush of blood to the head.
9.40am, day two Morning, everyone. India are a wicket away from potentially bowling England out for less than 300. That's a first day they'll snatch at gratefully on any overseas tour. Their bowling for most part yesterday was average, barring R Ashwin and Mohammed Shami, but as they have often done in the past as well, they sparked to life after tea, Virat Kohli's brilliant run-out of Joe Root inducing an England collapse from 216 for 3 to 286 for 9. Can India drive home the advantage today, on a track that has so far played well within their comfort zone?
George Dobell brings us this early update from Edgbaston:
"Morning. Overcast at Edgbaston, but expected to remain dry. Excellent sausage baps in the press box and the CEO reports a surge in tickets sales over last few days. So hopes today's crowd may not be far short of yesterday's. Adil and Moeen are bowling on the edge of the square with Saqlain. Trevor Bayliss is out there, too, no doubt muttering 'faster, faster' to himself."
And while we wait for the start of play, there's a whole lot of video content to peruse.
And some gold for ESPNcricinfo's Tamil-speaking fans: (India only) Dinesh Karthik's stream of advice for R Ashwin - in Tamil. Fret not if you can't understand, we've got subtitles.
WATCH - Ashwin pins Broad plumb in front
WATCH - Remember Root's mic drop? Here's Kohli's response (India only)
John Raju: "First session to England, second session shared and final session to India. Improving as the day went on :)"
Vishal Pawar: "That drop catch tells you the story of how Indian bowlers took wickets today, not a single dismissal where batsman was caught bt keeper or slip fielders. Bowled, LBW, a run out and a c&b. That's one way to keep away from frustration of drop catches. They need to keep doing it unless Indian fielders cling onto the catches in coming times."
Siddhesh v: "It's not just the catching, but the general awareness of who is around you that is lacking too with the Indian fielding. Can't help but feel that it's one area where India has not improved at all. "
END OF OVER:88 | (maiden) | ENG: 285/9
- Sam Curran24 (67b)
- James Anderson0 (9b)
- Mohammed Shami19-2-64-2
- Ravichandran Ashwin25-7-60-4
6:33pm, Stumps Whew, it's been a good day. Neither team has allowed the other to take full advantage after they've set up. And there have been a few set-ups. Two half-century stands for England, one century stand, and yet they've ended up losing nine. For India - they won't be too happy with conceding 285. But they'll feel like they're ahead in the game right now. And they might be, too.
Kohli said he would've bowled first because of the overcast conditions, but his first-change bowler today was R Ashwin, inside the 10th over. And it was that man that led India's attack on a sporadic day for their four fast bowlers. Four wickets for him, getting them with flight, turn, drift, grip and in case of the last one, even swing. 25 overs for four wickets on the first day of an overseas Test - he'll enjoy this. We'll see you tomorrow.
Not a popular decision with the crowd.
