The Indian bowlers had a tough day at the office in Chennai after England compiled a total of 263/3 on Day 1 of the first Test of the series. England skipper Joe Root scored his third ton on the trot while opener Dominic Sibley frustrated the Indian bowlers while scoring 87 off 286 deliveries.
India caper Jasprit Bumrah who is playing his first Test on home soil suggested that the ban on saliva use has created some problems.
“The ball did become soft after a while and the wicket is on flatter side with the bounce being less. You are left with limited options (to shine ball). We are trying to figure out what we can do with the limited things on hand, at that time,” Bumrah said at the virtual media conference.
“Yes, it becomes difficult when the ball becomes soft and doesn’t shine really well because of new COVID-19 rules, we can’t use saliva, very difficult during that time to maintain the ball,” Bumrah added.
India though did manage to remove Sibley after Bumrah trapped him in front of the stumps.
Earlier, England after winning the toss opted to bat first at Chepauk. Openers Rory Burns and Sibley had a decent start before Burns miscued a reverse sweep off R Ashwin when the team score read 63. Burns was dismissed for 33.
Daniel Lawrence went back in the hut for a duck but captain Root and Sibley had a stand of 200 runs for the third wicket.
Powered by Froala Editor