India vs England 2nd Test Day 1: 5 talking points

Winning the toss and opting to bat first in the second Test at Visakhapatnam on a good batting track, Kohli and Pujara helped overcome the loss of the openers pretty early in the day. Fine centuries from the middle order batsmen pushed India to a competitive total of 317/4 at stumps on Day 1.

While Kohli remained unbeaten on 151, continuing a fine streak of form, Pujara was dismissed for 119 attempting a poor shot against Anderson, but only after scoring his 9th Test hundred.

On a pitch considered to be a sharp turner, England spinners failed to extract the kind of turn and bounce expected, leaving the bulk of the job to their seamers, who did an admirable job in containing India's power-packed batting line-up.

India's position at the end of the day does not auger well for England given that they have to bat last on a wicket expected to take turn later in the game. India have also acquired the services of another offie in Jayant Yadav to counter the bulk of left-handers in England's middle order.

Let us take a glance at 5 talking points from Day 1 at Visakhapatnam.

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#5 The return of James Anderson

Anderson was the pick of the bowlers on day 1

With Chris Woakes nursing a niggle and Anderson available for selection, England decided to rest Woakes and give Anderson a go. The move paid rich dividends as Anderson was the standout bowler on Day 1 for England, picking up 3 of the 4 wickets to fall.

With his immaculate line and length bowling, Anderson probed the Indian batsmen with frequent questions in a fine opening burst that accounted for Murali Vijay's wicket. Vijay was surprised by a sudden bouncer after dealing adeptly with the line and length stuff from Anderson. England's leading Test wicket-taker showed no signs of rust, as he was right on the money from ball one.

After prizing out Vijay, Anderson returned to disrupt the 226-run stand between Kohli and Pujara, tempting Pujara into a loose stroke. At the fag end of the day, in the penultimate over, he grabbed Rahane's wicket with the new ball to cut down India's advantage.

#4 Lokesh Rahul's underwhelming comeback

Rahul made a disappointing return to the Test team

Rahul had warmed up with a 76 and 106 for Karnataka against Rajasthan in the Ranji Trophy. The opener was out for six weeks with an injury and on his comeback did not get the time to settle in as he poked at a Broad delivery to edge to third slip.

He had comfortably left the first three deliveries from Broad, delivered on a fifth stump line. But in the fourth ball, he decided to play a shot and poked with hard hands at a similar delivery, only to find Stokes pouching the edged chance.

Rahul had replaced Gautam Gambhir at the top of the order after the veteran leftie failed to capitalise on the rare opportunities he got in the last two series.

#3 The Kohli-Pujara saga

Virat Kohli notched up yet another Test century

Kohli and Pujara completely stole the headlines with a mammoth 226-run partnership, highlighted by sublime strokes, contrasting approaches, and little misunderstanding while running between the wickets.

The partnership took away the initial advantage England's seamers had unearthed by sending back the openers. While Pujara was at his usual best, calm and composed, Kohli pushed aside his weaknesses against England to notch up a 150 in his 50th Test match. Kohli's timing was impeccable as he did not let the England spinners settle. Pujara was also pretty adept at handling the spinners and compiled his second hundred of the series.

Though a couple of times there was clear miscommunication between the duo while running between the wickets, running became smoother as the partnership flourished and a period of play saw both of them attack the spinners with good intent.

#2 Rahane's form

Ajinkya Rahane nicked off yet again

Ajinkya Rahane had been one of India's best Test batsmen in recent times, acting as a wall between the top order and the lower order. However, his recent form has been a worry for team India. More than mere runs, the way in which he has thrown away his starts has not been a pretty sight.

His scores across formats since the big 188 in the Indore Test against New Zealand read 33, 28, 5, 57,20, 13, 1 and 23. Today with just an over and a half remaining in the day and a new ball in Anderson's hands, Rahane decided to poke at a fifth stump line delivery, only to nick behind to Bairstow to gift England a wicket.

While Saha and Ashwin's recent form has meant Rahane's loose strokes go unnoticed, it might not continue for long. England have a quality attack capable of running through the lower order. Rahane is the glue in this line-up and needs to tighten up his game for the rest of the series.

#1 England's spinners fail to deliver

Rashid and co. were disappointing on day 1

While all the pre-match talk revolved around the turning nature of the wicket, it was England's seamers that did the bulk of the job on Day 1 picking up all of the four wickets to fall. The spinners, Zafar Ansari, Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali found turn but did not hit the right lines consistently to trouble Kohli or Pujara.

Surprisingly, Moeen Ali was introduced only after 40 overs by Alastair Cook. Though he conceded 50 runs in 11 overs, he was bowling to a set pair of batsmen and never got the chance to bowl at them in the early part of their innings. Rashid and Ansari also failed to prevent the duo from rotating the strike, which was one of the highlights of the 226 run partnership.

Interestingly, only two maidens were delivered by the spinners in 49 overs between them, clearly displaying their ineffectiveness against Kohli and Pujara. Rashid and Ali were the prime culprits as they kept bowling the odd short ball to release any kind of pressure on the batsmen.