Rohit Sharma & KL Rahul make solid start as they break 69-year-old record at Lord's

While batting in the second Test match at Lord's, Indian openers Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul smashed a 69-year-old record. For the first time in nearly 70 years, India put up a 50-run opening stand at Lord's. The last time Indian batters put together a 50-run opening partnership was with Vinoo Mankad and Pankaj Roy in 1952. The match was also the second in the series for the visiting Indian squad, which was led by legendary cricketer Vijay Hazare.

Mankad and Roy together scored 106 runs without the loss of a single wicket before the former had to depart following an impressive delivery by Fred Trueman. Mankad scored 72 runs in the game, while Roy was dismissed for 35. India posted a total of 235 runs in the first innings and followed that up with 378 in the second innings, courtesy of a 184-run knock by Mankad. England responded by scoring 537 & 79/2, thus winning the game by 8 wickets. 

At the time of publishing the article, in 26 overs, Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul pushed India's score to 77/0. Sharma made his first Test half-century in England, with KL Rahul on the other end assisting him. India lost the toss earlier in the day and were asked to bat first in the second Test by England skipper Joe Root. Even before the first ball was bowled, the match was halted owing to bad weather. After lunch, the game resumed, with Sharma and Rahul assisting India in wearing down the new ball.

Playing XI 

India XI: KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (Captain), Ajinkya Rahane (Vice-captain), Rishabh Pant (Wicketkeeper), Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Ishant Sharma. 

England XI: Rory Burns, Dom Sibley, Haseeb Hameed, Moeen Ali, Joe Root (Captain), Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler (Wicketkeeper), Sam Curran, Ollie Robinson, Mark Wood, James Anderson.

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