“England will rue this as a day of lost opportunities” - Sunil Gavaskar 

Former India skipper Sunil Gavaskar opined that England’s batsmen should be disappointed with their effort on Day 1 of the Ahmedabad Test against India.

Having won the toss, England posted 205 on the board. Four England batsmen crossed the 20-run mark, but only Ben Stokes went on to complete a half-century.

Analyzing the opening day’s play of the final Test, Gavaskar stated that it was a day of missed opportunities for England. He told India Today:

"Day 1 of the final Test can be assessed as missed opportunities by England. They had 4 batsmen who got off to starts and then threw away their wickets.”

The Little Master pointed out that except for Washington Sundar’s dismissal of Stokes, most of the batsmen got out to poor strokes. Gavaskar added:

"There were a few very good deliveries, the one that Washington Sundar got Ben Stokes out was a terrific set up. But if you look at the dismissals of a Dan Lawrence, looking to go to his fifty with a glory shot.

According to Gavaskar, England have only themselves to blame for the position they find themselves in. He further said:

"When you have batsmen who get to 30s, 40s and not able to carry on to get that big hundred then clearly you can't blame anybody else accept yourself. So England will rue this as a day of lost opportunities.”

James Anderson claimed the wicket of Shubman Gill late in the final session as India went to stumps on 24/1, trailing England by 181, on day one.#INDvENG report 👇

— ICC (@ICC) March 4, 2021

Indian spinners dominate England batsmen again

Even though the pitch wasn’t as responsive to spin as the previous two surfaces, England continued to struggle against India’s slow bowlers.

Left-arm spinner Axar Patel carried on his dream run in Test cricket and notched up figures of 4 for 68 in 26 overs. Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin also impressed with 3 for 47.

The visitors were bowled out for 205 in 75.5 overs. While Stokes top-scored with 55, Dan Lawrence was stumped for 46. Jonny Bairstow (28) and Ollie Pope (29) got starts but failed to convert the same.

England’s poor batting effort forced Michael Vaughan to admit that the visitors were terrible with the bat.

The former England captain, who has been critical of the pitches used in the past two Tests, tweeted:

“India today with the ball showed why they are so good in these conditions ... Pitch did very little for 60 overs and they completely out skilled & out thought England ... !! High class ... England with the Bat were very very average ... #INDvENG”

Washington Sundar strikes 🎯He has claimed the big wicket of Ben Stokes, trapping him in front for 55. England are 121/5!#INDvENG | https://t.co/6OuUwURcgX pic.twitter.com/30CMHXxVgM

— ICC (@ICC) March 4, 2021

Having bowled out England for 205, India ended Day 1 of the fourth Test in Ahmedabad on 24 for 1.