India, June 20 -- A Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Ravichandran Ashwin-minus India began well in the ongoing five-match series against England after being asked to bat first by Ben Stokes in the first Test at Headingley, Leeds. India's opening batters KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal mixed caution with aggression to put England's pace attack of Chris Woakes, Brydon Carse, Jos Tongue and Stokes under pressure.

Former India batter Sanjay Manjrekar praised Rahul and Jaiswal for their ability to not poke at balls bowled outside the off-stump. However, in doing so, he ended up taking a jibe at former India captain Virat Kohli, who retired from Test cricket in May 2025, just days ahead of the squad announcement for the England series.

Speaking ab...