As Murali Vijay and captain MS Dhoni strode from the Trent Bridge wicket back to the pavilion yesterday evening, it was a surreal moment for Indian cricket.
Traditionally they have been slow out of the blocks on tours of England, playing good cricket only after they have given their hosts a head start, from which they have not always been able to recover.
A score of 259 for four is a solid base to go on and compile a big total to put England’s relatively inexperienced top order under pressure when they come to bat.
But make no mistake, a failure to get to at least 450, if not 500, will be a below-par effort on a flat wicket that, apart from a spell in the afternoon that offered reverse swing, has largely offered little assistance to the bowlers.
Opener Vijay (122 not out) batted through to be the backbone of India’s good day, an unbroken stand of 81 with Dhoni (50 not out) then steering the innings back on an even keel after it had looked as if it may wobble when they had fallen to 178 for four just after tea.
But Vijay’s first Test hundred on foreign soil, which included 20 boundaries and one six, has for once left his country on the front foot in the opening Test of a series in England.
You have to go back to 1986 for the last time India were triumphant in the first Test on English soil and, even then, they had not had a particularly great first day at Lord’s as they had allowed the hosts, led by a century from Graham Gooch, to score 245 for five.
But since then it has been a case of almost permanently being on the back foot, with poor performances ensuring they have lost four of the past five series openers in England, usually in emphatic fashion.
Even the one they did not lose, in 2007 at Lord’s, they almost did, as only bad light and the last pair of Dhoni and S Sreesanth batting out five overs denied victory to Michael Vaughan’s team.
One factor then was these were often series of three or four Tests, making getting off to a good start even more crucial as there was little chance to recover from a poor start. The usual narrative in these series has been that India have rallied from a bad beginning and often played the better cricket in the remainder of the matches.
In theory, it should be less important this time with five Tests scheduled, but if India are victorious in this Test, it is doubtful they will see it that way.
Between 1990 and 2007, the only matches England won against India were the first Test, India raising their game afterwards. In 2007, they used their escape at Lord’s to good effect as they went on to win at Trent Bridge and then were the dominant force in the draw at the Oval to secure a series victory.
Even in 2011, the scene of the 4-0 whitewash in England’s favour, they played their best cricket in the second Test, conspiring to waste being 46 runs ahead with six wickets in hand in the first innings before collapsing to lose by 319 runs.
Given their past traumas in England, it was understandable that the Indians were in good spirits last night.
They are in a position where they can dictate the course of the match, but that does involve following up yesterday’s good day with the bat with another one today to ensure it is not wasted.
For England, it was a tough day in the field and, after a frustrating morning in which India had cantered to 107 for one, it had not looked good for under-pressure captain Alastair Cook, who had lost the toss.
But Cook, to his credit, showed more creativity with his field placings and in using his bowlers. He mixed up the overs between his attack and was rewarded with a better performance from his bowlers than had been offered up in the shambolic loss to Sri Lanka in the second Test last month.
James Anderson and Stuart Broad both bowled a better line and were well backed up by the pace of Liam Plunkett.
Unfortunately, a captain can have all the creative thinking in the world, but if the pitch is offering little and there is an immovable obstacle – Vijay – to negotiate, there is nothing you can do other than keep the run-rate down and try to create pressure.
If England can keep India to below 400, they are right in this Test.
But this is the first time in a long time that India have had the early ascendancy and Vijay and Dhoni will be anxious to ensure their hard work is not wasted.
gcaygill@thenational.ae
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How Alia's experiment will help humans get to Mars
Alia’s winning experiment examined how genes might change under the stresses caused by being in space, such as cosmic radiation and microgravity.
Her samples were placed in a machine on board the International Space Station. called a miniPCR thermal cycler, which can copy DNA multiple times.
After the samples were examined on return to Earth, scientists were able to successfully detect changes caused by being in space in the way DNA transmits instructions through proteins and other molecules in living organisms.
Although Alia’s samples were taken from nematode worms, the results have much bigger long term applications, especially for human space flight and long term missions, such as to Mars.
It also means that the first DNA experiments using human genomes can now be carried out on the ISS.
When Umm Kulthum performed in Abu Dhabi
Known as The Lady of Arabic Song, Umm Kulthum performed in Abu Dhabi on November 28, 1971, as part of celebrations for the fifth anniversary of the accession of Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan as Ruler of Abu Dhabi. A concert hall was constructed for the event on land that is now Al Nahyan Stadium, behind Al Wahda Mall. The audience were treated to many of Kulthum's most well-known songs as part of the sold-out show, including Aghadan Alqak and Enta Omri.
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Name: Carzaty
Founders: Marwan Chaar and Hassan Jaffar
Launched: 2017
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Based: Dubai and Muscat
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Funding to date: $5.5 million
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ATP WORLD No 1
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How to become a Boglehead
Bogleheads follow simple investing philosophies to build their wealth and live better lives. Just follow these steps.
• Spend less than you earn and save the rest. You can do this by earning more, or being frugal. Better still, do both.
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• Choose the right level of risk. Don't gamble by investing in get-rich-quick schemes or high-risk plays. Don't play it too safe, either, by leaving long-term savings in cash.
• Diversify. Do not keep all your eggs in one basket. Spread your money between different companies, sectors, markets and asset classes such as bonds and property.
• Keep charges low. The biggest drag on investment performance is all the charges you pay to advisers and active fund managers.
• Keep it simple. Complexity is your enemy. You can build a balanced, diversified portfolio with just a handful of ETFs.
• Forget timing the market. Nobody knows where share prices will go next, so don't try to second-guess them.
• Stick with it. Do not sell up in a market crash. Use the opportunity to invest more at the lower price.
It Was Just an Accident
Director: Jafar Panahi
Stars: Vahid Mobasseri, Mariam Afshari, Ebrahim Azizi, Hadis Pakbaten, Majid Panahi, Mohamad Ali Elyasmehr
Rating: 4/5
Sustainable Development Goals
1. End poverty in all its forms everywhere
2. End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture
3. Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages
4. Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all
5. Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls
6. Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all
7. Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all
8. Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all
9. Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialisation and foster innovation
10. Reduce inequality within and among countries
11. Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable
12. Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns
13. Take urgent action to combat climate change and its effects
14. Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development
15. Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss
16. Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels
17. Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalise the global partnership for sustainable development
