It was a superb start for India on their tour of England that comprises of five Test matches. On the opening day of the first game, the visitors got an invitation to bat first and scored 359 for 3 in 85 overs. Two India batters — Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill — scored terrific centuries to help the side dominate the play on Friday at Headingley, Leeds. KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant also played good knocks of 42 and 65 not out. The duo of Jaiswal and KL Rahul stitched 91 runs for the first wicket and India never looked back on the day since then.

Former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan heaped praises on the start of the Gill-led side but pointed out that Rahul could have played better. During a discussion on Sony Sports as quoted by Sportskeeda, he highlighted the right-handed batter was going for risky shots and said that it was not his strength.

“The Indian openers added more than 50 runs in Headingley for the first time in 39 years. So, India wouldn’t have expected a better start than that. However, the two wickets that fell (in the first session), I will be slightly more disappointed with KL Rahul because playing flashy shots is not his strength,” he said.

Rahul smashed 8 fours during his knock of 42 while he was dismissed after playing 78 balls. It was a full delivery well outside off-stump from Brydon Carse that saw Rahul losing his wicket. The ball was swinging outside and Rahul ended up edging it to Joe Root at first slip.

“He played flashy shots twice or thrice, the ball went in the air, and he could have gotten out there. When the wicket fell, you had gotten set by then. You had already stitched together a 91-run partnership, you had made the ball old, and downed their spirits,” Pathan added.

Jaiswal, who smashed his first century on England soil, credited senior batter Rahul for his guidance during their opening stand.

“KL Rahul is very experienced. I can understand a lot by talking to him – where the runs can be made and how we can carry on the innings. It was a lot of fun to play with him,” he said, highlighting their camaraderie developed during India A tours and pre-series preparation.