India vs England: Yashasvi Jaiswal's hundred keeps the tourists at bay

England clung to India admirably, although Yashavi Jaiswal hit a brilliant century on the opening day of the second Test in Visakhapatnam.

Opener Jaiswal batted all day long to make an unbeaten 179, taking the home side to 336-6.

The left-hander's knock prevented India, 1-0 down after losing a thrilling first Test, from completely wasting their advantage in winning the toss and batting first on a good pitch.

Jaiswal was involved in three separate 50-over partnerships, but his teammates wasted their starts. The six men were separated for between 14 and 34 years.

Shoaib Bashir, a 20-year-old on debut, was the best of the four England spinners and took his first Test wicket when Rohit Sharma was caught at leg-slip.

James Anderson, now in his 22nd consecutive year as a Test cricketer, bowled brilliantly as the only seamer and took the wicket of Shubman Gill.

Bashir scored his second late in the day, after Axar Patel had grabbed the point, and Rehan Ahmed then did the same for KS Bharat to leave England with a real hope of restricting India to something manageable.

If England's win in Hyderabad was remarkable, this long day on the field was more typical of a tour of India. Maybe the tourists taking six wickets means they got the better of it.

Par Anderson, this English forward is largely inexperienced. This was only the second time in Test history that two England players – Ahmed and Bashir – were under the age of 21.

However, England stuck to its mission. There were occasional bad balls and errors on the field, but what says a lot about their morale is that they were able to hit the ball at the other end, while Jaiswal put together a masterful knock.

Perhaps aware of the wasteful manner in which they batted in the first innings in Hyderabad, India ground it out, often for less than three runs. One wonders how England could have come close to batting in such conditions.

The pitch currently looks correct, with the potential for it to deteriorate quickly later in the game. When England come to bat, they must make their first innings count.

In the end, India were indebted to Jaiswal, and despite the knock he suffered, England could still make a run through the lower order and then bat well enough to earn a first-innings lead.

Jaiswal is a rising star in Indian cricket, and he has a backstory to match his incredible talent. At the age of 12, he moved to Mumbai to promote cricket and sold street food to make ends meet.

He was spotted by a coach playing at one of the famous grounds, and was set on a course to be the Player of the Tournament in the 2020 Under-19 World Cup, after which he signed a huge contract to play for Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League. .

He is now shedding light on the test format. It was his second hundred in only his sixth Test, which was filled with beautiful hits from the off side. Two of his five sixes were brilliant lofts over extra cover and another, over a long off off Tom Hartley, took Jaiswal to three figures.

Barring a spate of 41 runs off 30 balls in the lead-up to his century, Jaiswal's scoring was measured. He added 90 with Shreyas Iyer and 70 with debutant Rajat Patidar. Joe Root, at slip, got his toes on the flashing edges when Jaiswal was 73 and 155.

When Axar somehow cut off Bashir to point out the depth of the evening session, England had the opportunity to make this their day.

KS Bharat arrived and attacked but also fell to Ahmed, leaving Ravichandran Ashwin to support Jaiswal until the end.

Bashir's path to Test cricket matches Jaiswal's romanticism. Released by Surrey and picked up by Somerset, he played club cricket last summer. After England captain Ben Stokes spotted him bowling on Twitter, he was identified as an option for this tour, but a visa delay meant he did not arrive until Sunday.

Even then, Bachir was England's best player, which explains why he made his debut after just six top-flight matches. He needed less than four overs to find the turn that convinced Rohit to push until his leg slipped and he celebrated by howling to the sky.

In contrast to Bashir's youth, 41-year-old Anderson is the oldest seamer to ever play a Test for India. He was excellent throughout, being controlling, skilled and miserly. He directed Jill to the back edge.

Hartley couldn't match his heroics in Hyderabad, but at least he brilliantly dismissed Shreyas through Ben Fox. Root opened the bowling but bowled like a batter, while Ahmed was tidy enough when finally used just before tea that Patidar kept playing.

England could have taken the lead with Jaiswal and Axar taking the lead, but Bashir was rewarded for his persistence, as one of his worst deliveries was the wicket of Axar.

Ahmed's dismissal of Bharath was almost a carbon copy, and with the lower order exposed, England have a second new ball available on Saturday if they need it.

English player Shoaib Bashir speaks to TNT Sports: “Making my debut is very special, it's something you dreamed of as a kid and I'm so grateful.”

“Rohit is a very good spinner, and to get his wicket as my first one is very special.”

India batter Yashasvi Jaiswal: “The pitch played differently throughout the day, as the ball got older, there was spin and bounce.

“I would like to double it and I will try to keep going.”

BBC cricket correspondent Jonathan Agnew: “England stuck to their task really well. Similar to the first Test, all the Indian batsmen came on but only Jaiswal got past 34. I really liked Bashir's look.”