As it happened: England vs India, 5th Test, Edgbaston, Day 1

Whodathunk India would end the day at 338 for 7 after England had reduced them to 98 for 5, eh? Youmightathunk, though, if you'd watched how New Zealand's just concluded tour of England. For Daryl Mitchell and Tom Blundell, sub Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja. And since Pant was involved, it all happened at #BazBall speed.

Just as it did during the New Zealand series, the Dukes ball stopped being so hard to negotiate after about 30 overs. Perhaps even more pertinently, England showed they may lack a little bit in bowling depth. We noted earlier that the long rain break at the end of the first session allowed James Anderson the chance to rest when the ball was still new. As a result, he bowled 15 of the day's first 35 overs. But he only bowled four of the last 38.

And England's third and fourth specialist bowlers didn't cover themselves in glory, conceding 156 runs in just 26 overs. While Matthew Potts began most encouragingly, bowling a tight line, getting the ball to seam, and dismissing Hanuma Vihari and Virat Kohli, Jack Leach had an entirely forgettable day, as Pant - not for the first time - toyed mercilessly with him.

We only had 73 overs today, and India still scored 338, at the rate of 4.63 per over. Jadeja ends the day batting on 83, and he'll be absolutely key tomorrow morning, with the new ball due in seven overs' time, if India's last three can hang around with him for that long. If England can roll the tail over quickly, India, for all the thrill of their fightback today, may not yet have the sort of first-innings total that makes them feel safe.

Which is to say that this Test match - the fifth of a series that began last year, if you need reminding, with India 2-1 ahead - is beautifully poised. Anything could still happen, and whatever happens, it's bound to be thrilling with the kind of talent packed into these two line-ups.

... to the No. 9, Mohammed Shami. Tells you how quickly seven down can turn to all out when this Indian team travels overseas.

Ben Stokes gets among the wickets with a sharp bouncer that keeps following Shardul Thakur as he tries to jerk himself out of the way. Leaves a bit of glove in the ball's path, and it balloons behind the wicket, where Billings takes a good catch diving forward.

India are 323 for 7.

Shiva Jayaraman:

Partnerships in Tests in England this summer:
5th & 6th wicket stands - 1775 runs at 80.7.
All other wickets - 2368 runs at 27.2.

He became the proud owner of a silver bat today, and he has a bit of a golden arm to go with it. Next ball after being thumped back over his head for six, Joe Root floats one up a little slower and wider. Pant goes for the big hit down the ground, but he's reaching for the ball, and it turns, takes his edge, and nestles into Ben Stokes' hands at slip. Pant is out for a superlative 146 off 111 balls, and India are 320 for 6 in 66.2 overs.

The Pant-Jadeja partnership ends at 222 off 239 balls.

And it comes up in quite incredible manner. Joe Root, brought on in place of the struggling Leach, bowls a fast bouncer to Pant, and you'd think that unexpected change of pace and length would unsettle him, but no, he swivels and swats it away to the fine leg boundary.

First ball of the next over, Jadeja pulls Ben Stokes to the square leg boundary to bring up India's 300.

You know the batter, you know the bowler.

Sampath Bandarupalli notes what an incredible record Pant has at three-down: an average of 96.20, and even more astonishingly a strike rate of 93.94, with four fifties and a hundred in just seven innings.

And he follows up with this: Of all Indian batters, only Tendulkar and Gavaskar have scored more hundreds outside Asia before their 25th birthdays than Pant.

Pant's fifth in Test cricket, and each of them, weirdly, has come in the final Test of a series. And they've come all over the world. The Oval, Sydney, Ahmedabad, Johannesburg and now Birmingham.

He gets there in entertaining manner, realising a little late that a second run was on after a pull behind square off Broad, and having to dive to complete it. He had hurtled through the 90s with a pair of fours in the previous over off Leach, the second one hit straight back over the bowler's head while falling onto the floor.

Later in the same over, Jadeja pushes Broad down the ground for a single, and brings out that familiar sword-twirling celebration. It's amazing how consistent his batting contributions have become, no matter where he plays.

India are 251 for 5 after 58 overs.

Off the same bowler too. This time, unlike in Ahmedabad, Pant doesn't connect like he wants to, and only picks up two runs. The next ball, he goes for a hard, square sweep, and misses. The ball doesn't miss off stump by much either.

Before this over, the 48th of India's innings, Pant and Jadeja had hit four fours in the first three overs after tea, the pick of them a pair of back-foot punches through the point region from Pant.

India are now 193 for 5, and the partnership has swelled to 95.

Brilliant day of Test cricket so far. From 98 for 5, India have recovered to 174 for 5, with Pant and Jadeja having put on an as-yet unbroken 76 off just 101 balls.

What a player. As he has done plenty of times already in his Test career, he's begun an innings after a top-order struggle and scored his runs breezily while looking more or less untroubled.

Apart from his genius, of course, he's also benefited from a trend that's been on view all through this English summer. The ball seems to have gone a little soft after the 30-over mark, and batting seems to have become a lot easier. Are Pant and Jadeja doing a Mitchell and Blundell?

Having bowled just the one over so far, Jack Leach came back into the attack for the 37th. Pant stepped out twice, hitting him for a four and a six down the ground, and in between he got the slightly shorter length to rock back to and pull for another four.

That calculated assault has moved Pant to 39 off 37 balls, and it's also brought up the 50 partnership between him and Jadeja.

In all, Pant has now scored 105 runs off 68 balls from Leach in Test cricket, for the one dismissal.

Broad and Anderson go a touch too full in the 34th and 35th overs, and Jadeja hits two glorious on-drives either side of Pant stroking one on the up through the covers.

Those three boundaries seem to have bashed this Dukes ball out of shape, so a replacement has been summoned up. Not the first time this has happened this summer.

Shiva Jayaraman digs up a beaut of a stat:

India's scores at Edgbaston at the fall of their fifth wicket since 1996, in chronological order: 68, 103, 87, 92, 78, 100, and 98.

Interesting point, and things have gone exactly as per Kartikeya Date's prediction. Anderson has just bowled his 14th over, and it was only the 33rd over of India's innings.

Great decision from England to bowl first, you'd say then. The overhead conditions have added to their fast bowlers' threat, and they may even have factored in this effect of possible rain interruptions - allowing their best bowlers to bowl a greater share of overs.

But neither carries to the cordon. The second one almost does, to Joe Root diving low to his right from first slip. He's not sure he's caught it on the full, though, and it goes up to the third umpire. The soft signal is not out, and it appeared to bounce just short of his fingers, but it would have been interesting to see how that decision may have gone had the soft signal been different.

India are 109 for 5.

Since Rishabh Pant made his debut in 2018, only Ben Stokes (135) has scored more runs in Test cricket while stepping down the pitch to fast bowlers. Pant has scored 69 runs off 45 balls via this method (as of the 30th over of this India innings), but it's also led to his dismissal five times. Stokes has been a lot safer, scoring 135 off 173 balls while only being dismissed three times.

Already in this innings, Pant has stepped out three times to the fast bowlers. He's hit James Anderson for a four down the ground, but he's also inside-edged an unconvincing defensive prod off Broad - it could have trickled onto his stumps on another day.

A short and frenetic innings from Shreyas Iyer. England bowled three half-volleys to him and he drove them all to the boundary. Along the way, Anderson bowled two short balls to him too. He was a little late in getting out of the way first, shaping to sway then having to change course and duck as the ball followed him inwards.

The second short ball isn't as threatening, but it's an awkward one to negotiate, veering into his body and cramping him for room. He gloves it down the leg side, and Sam Billings sends him on his way with a superb, diving one-hander. Iyer is out for 15 off 11 balls, and India are 98 for 5.

What a spell this has been since that big rain break. Potts has bowled a superb line all day, and now that line sows doubt in Virat Kohli's mind. He's not sure whether to play or leave, then he makes a late decision to leave, withdraws his bat too late, and the ball ricochets off it and into his stumps. India are 71 for 4.

And it was very much merited. Terrific delivery from Potts in the third over after resumption. Super length, nips back in from outside off, and Vihari, going forward and across to defend, leaves his front pad right in front of the stumps when the ball beats his inside edge. He goes for 20 off 53 balls, and India are 64 for 3.

India have sent in Rishabh Pant at No. 5, ahead of Shreyas Iyer. Possibly the left-hander to break up the pattern a little. There have been times when they've promoted Ravindra Jadeja to No. 5 as well, but now they go with Pant.

Play is about to restart. Here are the new session timings (all in local time): 2.15 to 4.15 followed by a 20-minutes tea break, then 4.35 to 6.30. We're hoping to get in 84 overs in total today, and 97 tomorrow.

Vithushan Ehantharajah sets us up beautifully for the post-lunch session:

"The fact Virat Kohli wasn’t on strike for his first over in the middle was probably a good thing. It also helped that the six runs Hanuma Vihari picked off Matthew Potts came in even numbers, while James Anderson brooded at fifth slip.

"Even sequels of great epics still need an introduction, and the anticipation of these two modern greats rekindling their rivalry was evident when the majority English crowd began singing “Oh Jimmy Jimmy”. As much as this Test has felt like a bit of an afterthought, this was why the crowds were here.

"Having removed Pujara with his previous delivery, Anderson sprung to the crease with a little bit extra he didn’t need given who was shaping up. It was only in the last two deliveries that Kohli got bat on ball, out of choice. After some exaggerated leaves that almost said, "hey, I’m over here," Anderson obliged. A solid defensive shot was followed by a smart single into the covers to retain the strike. At the end of the over, both main protagonists strolled past one another, sharing nothing but a couple of huffs. There’ll be plenty more this afternoon..."

Shiva Jayaraman digs into the numbers for us:

"For those wondering if England have been especially poor this summer with their catching compared to recent years in Tests, the short answer is - no. Over the last three summers, England fielders have dropped around 22% of the catches that have come their way. Zak Crawley's reprieve of Hanuma Vihari off Matthew Potts was England’s 13th drop of this summer, out of 59 chances, which is 22.03%. In 2021, this percentage was 21.84%, and in 2020 it was 22.06%.

"However, England haven’t set the highest of standards in Tests for themselves. Since the beginning of the 2018 season, England have dropped 20.5% of their chances, which ranks sixth poorest among the 12 Test teams, and is significantly worse compared to the best catching team during this period, South Africa, who’ve dropped only 16.6% of their chances. New Zealand rank second with 16.9% dropped chances, and Australia are third at 18.8%."

It had grown extremely gloomy over the last 10 minutes, and it's begun raining now. Not heavy, but enough to force the players off the field. India are 53 for 2 in 20.1 overs.

And with that, they've called for an early lunch, at 12.08pm.

An absolute peach. It's the classic outswinger, with seam canted towards the slips, but it's delivered from wide of the crease, angling into the batter, and it stores up its swing until extremely late in its path to the batter. Cheteshwar Pujara has to play at it, and he has to play from within the crease because the length was such that he could go neither forward nor back. A bit of bounce as well, so it takes the shoulder of his bat, and goes straight to Crawley at second slip.

India are 46 for 2 in 18 overs.

Superb delivery from Potts, angling in, threatening to finish within the stumps, bringing Vihari forward to defend, then straightening off the deck. Thick edge flies to the right of Crawley at second slip, at catchable height, and he thrusts his hand out and the ball fails to stick. Vihari was on 7 at that point.

India are 45 for 1 in 17 overs.

A nip-backer from Broad beats Pujara's front-foot defence in the 14th over, and there's a loud shout for caught behind that Aleem Dar upholds, but a review shows the ball missed the inside edge and brushed thigh pad alone. India are 43 for 1.

India are 38 for 1 in 13 overs. It's been absorbing stuff, with Anderson, Broad and Matthew Potts settling into a testing length, and while the ball hasn't swung or seamed dramatically, the wobble-seam ball has misbehaved every now and then. Cheteshwar Pujara and Hanuma Vihari are showing excellent discipline outside off stump, but the seamers have beaten them with movement close to off stump.

Neither team will be unhappy with how the first hour went, but India have a lot more hard work to get through before batting becomes anything like straightforward.

Shubman Gill falls just past the half-hour mark, and India are 27 for 1 in 6.2 overs. Gill had hit four attractive fours in scoring 17 in quick time, including a drive through mid-off off James Anderson and a short-arm pull off Stuart Broad, but he'd also looked a little tentative outside off stump, edging a couple that hadn't carried to the cordon.

Then Anderson gets one to straighten and hold its line, and Gill pushes at it without really moving his feet. The line was such that he could maybe have left it, and he ends up playing a long way away from his body. Takes the outside edge high up and carries nicely to second slip.

"The toss was pretty much dictated by the overheads here," Ben Stokes says, "the wicket looks pretty good." It certainly is quite overcast at the moment. James Anderson and Sam Billings come into their XI< in place of Ben Foakes and Jamie Overton.

"It's happened before, Kapil Dev was the captain," is Jasprit Bumrah's reaction to being asked what it feels like to be India's first fast-bowling captain, before conceding that yes, Kapil was an allrounder. Then he addresses the actual feeelings. "It's a good feeling, a massive achievement, it can't get better than this."

Cheteshwar Pujara will open for India. It's a role he's played before, and a role he has a terrific record in: 395 runs in seven innings, an average of 98.75.

And India stick to the bowling combination that they trusted in the first four Tests. Four seamers, one spinner. "Shami, myself, Siraj and Shardul," Bumrah says, "and Jaddu as the allrounder."

Interesting selection from India, in view of how the three England-New Zealand Tests went. The pitches were quite a bit flatter in that series than they were than last season (or the Dukes ball moved a lot less), and spin ended up as a bigger factor, but that doesn't prompt India to pick R Ashwin. With England's batters set to come hard at the bowling once again, there'll be quite a bit of focus on the control India's bowlers maintain, and perhaps Mohammed Siraj and Shardul Thakur in particular.

England: 1 Alex Lees, 2 Zak Crawley, 3 Ollie Pope, 4 Joe Root, 5 Jonny Bairstow, 6 Ben Stokes (capt), 7 Sam Billings (wk), 8 Matthew Potts, 9 Stuart Broad, 10 Jack Leach, 11 James Anderson

India: 1 Shubman Gill, 2 Cheteshwar Pujara, 3 Hanuma Vihari, 4 Virat Kohli, 5 Shreyas Iyer, 6 Rishabh Pant (wk), 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 Shardul Thakur, 9 Mohammed Shami, 10 Mohammed Siraj, 11 Jasprit Bumrah (capt)