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The second Test between India and England finally kicked off at Lord's after a half-hour delay due to rain. Joe Root won the toss on Thursday and put the visitors to bat in overcast conditions in London. It was always going to be a tough task for the Indian openers to survive the first few overs against some of the best new-ball bowlers in the form of James Anderson, Ollie Robinson and Sam Curran. However, KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma did not just survive but put the opposition on the backfoot in some style.
The duo showed incredible grit, resilience and patience in the first hour of play as they kept on leaving or blocking the deliveries. It was a masterclass of Test batting by both the openers as English bowlers got more and more frustrated with the overs passing by. However, there was one thing that was going in favour of the home side in the first session - India's slow run rate.
India had not run away as the score read 22/0 in 14 overs. A wicket could have turned the tides once again on England's side. However, this is when Rohit Sharma did something that completely put India on top on Day 1. As Sam Curran came to bowl the 15th over of the innings, Sharma smashed him for 4 boundaries.
4,4,0,4,4,0 - Hitman launches counter-attack
Hitman started the counter-attack with a brilliant drive through the point region. Sam Curran then responded by bowling a good-length delivery, beating the Indian opener. However, the ball struck the outside edge of Rohit Sharma's bat and went towards the third man boundary.
After a dot delivery, the right-handed batsman once again smashed a mesmerizing four off the point region, this time on the back-foot. The 34-year-old put the icing on the cake on the next delivery, playing a brilliant flick off his pads as the ball ran towards the mid-wicket boundary.
Watch the video here:
India go to lunch at 46/0
The flurry of boundaries by Rohit Sharma ensured that India significantly improved their run rate in a matter of one over. Soon after, it started raining once again as an early lunch was called by the umpires with India ending the session in a comfortable position at 46/0 in 18.4 overs. While Rahul (10* off 46) showed good technical application, Rohit (35* off 66) did the bulk of scoring for India.