Centurions Jaiswal, Gill put India in control at 359/3 after England chose to field

Centuries from Yashasvi Jaiswal (101) and captain Shubman Gill (127 not out) put India in a comfortable position at stumps on day one of the first Test in Leeds on Friday.

Gill and Rishabh Pant (65) were unbeaten as India scored steadily to make 359/3 in 85 overs. Ben Stokes won the toss and opted to field, hoping to find swing with the new ball and trouble the young tourists led by a new skipper.

But the Headingley surface turned into a batter's alley, where the Indian top order found scoring rather easy, both square and straight. Gill hit 16 boundaries, the same as Jaiswal, who had set the pace with K L Rahul (42).

Sai Sudharsan's debut and Karun Nair's return to the India XI after eight years were the topics of discussion post-toss. But left-hander Sudharsan (0 off 4) picked a poor shot to try and find his first Test run, only edging behind Stokes, who ended the day with two wickets. The Stokes delivery that swung down the leg side before nicking Sudharsan's bat might have been left for a wide in the IPL, where the Tamil Nadu batter scored the most runs (759) last season.

The dismissal of Rahul had brought Sudharsan out to the middle. Rahul, a seasoned campaigner with over 3200 Test runs, should be unhappy with his shot selection as he chased a Brydon Carse delivery, edging to Joe Root in the first slip.

The Indian opener was right to go for the drive because he had gracefully pushed Carse through the covers just 10 balls ago. This time, the English seamer baited Rahul with a delivery pitched up and wide, with a hint of late movement. Leaving that harmless delivery would have been the wiser call, and the same should have been Sudharsan's play.

Karun's return and playing XI
Bengaluru-Malayali Karun last played a Test in 2017 in an England series, where he famously scored an unbeaten triple hundred, but he mysteriously vanished from the national set-up.

The 33-year-old right-hander is expected to bat at No 6. India have picked four seamers, with Shardul Thakur joining Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna. Ravindra Jadeja's experience was preferred over Kuldeep Yadav's variety in the spin department.

India and England play a five-match series for the freshly-minted Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy.

Brief scores: India 359/3 in 85 overs (Shubman Gill 127 not out, Yashasvi Jaiswal 101, Rishabh Pant 65 not out, KL Rahul 42, Ben Stokes 2/43) stumps day one