Nottingham, Skipper Virat Kohli and his deputy Ajinkya Rahane struck fluent fifties to help India recover from the early jolts in the morning session, as the visitors reached 189/3 at tea on Day 1 of the third Test at Trent Bridge here on Saturday.
At the break, Kohli (51) and Rahane (53) went back undivided after forging a 107-run fourth wicket stand as the visitors ended their first wicketless session in the series so far.
Resuming the second session at 82/3 on a surface, which started to settle down under the sun, Kohli and Rahane played out the initial few overs from the pacers with utmost caution before cutting loose as soon as leg-spinner Adil Rashid was brought into the attack.
Kohli was his usual confident self, mostly chanceless and enjoyed the company of the Mumbaikar, who showed enough signs of being at his best.
Rashid’s introduction into the attack lit up the Indian pair’s eyes, striking frequent boundaries, that saw the leggie’s figures swell up to 29 runs from his five overs.
The Indian duo did well to take the attack back to the opposition, prompting Kohli to get to his 18th Test fifty of 74 balls before Rahane struck Chris Woakes for a boundary to bring up his 13th fifty.
Earlier, after being put to bat in the opening session, India squandered a 60-run steady opening stand to lose three quick wickets of Shikhar Dhawan (35), Lokesh Rahul (23) and Cheteshwar Pujara (14) within a span of 22 runs, thanks to a disciplined spell from Woakes.
Brief Scores: India 1st innings 189/3 (Ajinkya Rahane 53 not out, Virat Kohli 51 not out; Chris Woakes 3/45) vs England.
