Joe Root’s century and Dom Sibley’s resistance make it England’s day in Chennai

The first day of Test Cricket back on Indian soil, and it proved every bit as testing, as tiring, as arduous as it has ever been. Much like the way the Indian first-timers surprised Australians on their own soil, the seemingly inexperienced English top order still delivered. Led by Joe Root’s dominant century, England would head back from Day 1 of the Test match clearly the happier of the two teams.

England have had a history of producing Test openers with the ease of plucking them out of a tree who come in and perform in India. If on their previous tour to India, Haseeb Hameed and Keaton Jennings debuted impressively, it was the turn of Dom Sibley to take carry forward the legacy in 2021. The new ball hardly produced any terrors. Sibley and Rory Burns ensuring England bat out the new-ball pair of Jasprit Bumrah and Ishant Sharma without any casualties in the first hour of play. 

If the first hour of play was a reassurance for England that their young batting lineup could hold their own in India, the last 15 minutes of play before lunch could not have been more contrasting. First, a miscued reverse sweep by Rory Burns off Ashwin landed in Rishabh Pant’s hands. Dan Lawrence looked like he expected the ball to appear a couple of blinks later, and he would have thanked the makers of his batting pads to have saved his knees; Jasprit Bumrah trapping Lawrence for his first wicket in India.

The lunch break came at the right time for England who looked as if someone had flashed neon lights in their eyes while they were crossing a road. Joe Root nearly ran himself out on the verge of the end of the first session. England appeared to have used the break to freeze their nerves, as when they came out to bat again, the Sibley-Root duo made the pre-lunch haha-Kiri a blip. 

England, with the Sibley-Root partnership, appeared to have replicated the Pujara-Kohli model that has brought India so much success in the sub-continent over the past 5 years. Root looked comfortable as ever, extending his form from Sri Lanka across the Indian Ocean. Sibley blunted the Indian spinners with ease, accumulating runs while defending with supreme decisiveness.

The second session brought no luck for Team India. Joe Root’s confidence knew no bounds, and within the blink of an eye, he had raced past the hundred mark in a landmark 100th Test match. Dom Sibley would consider himself unlucky to not have been carrying his bat at the end of the first day in Chennai, being trapped leg-before by Bumrah in what would prove to be the final piece of action for the day. But a heroic 382-minute vigil in his first Test match in India has gone a long way in setting up the Test match in England’s favor. For India, the equation will be simple - early wickets on day 2.