New Delhi, June 21 (IANS) Cricket legends Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly engaged in light banter on social media as they were reminded of their dominant batting display in 2002 after India reached a commanding 359/3 on the opening day of the first Test of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy at Leeds on Friday.

With India playing under a new captain and without the assured presence of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli in the batting line-up, the visitors rode on centuries by Yashasvi Jaiswal (101) and Shubman Gill (127 not out) and a fine unbeaten half-century by Rishabh Pant (65 not out) to make a strong start in the series.

Some fans reminded Tendulkar and Ganguly of India’s superb batting at Headingley in 2002 when they shared a 249-run partnership for the fourth wicket. Tendulkar compiled a brilliant 303-ball 193 while Ganguly scored 128. With Rahul Dravid scoring 148, three Indian batters reached the three-figure mark while opener Sanjay Bangar contributed a fine 68.

In response to a post on X, formerly Twitter, about their superb partnership and the three centuries in Leeds, Tendulkar responded with a fingers-crossed emoji.

Ganguly then took things further with his reply to Tendulkar.

“Hi, Champ…this time it could be 4..on this good surface…Pant and maybe Karun..the surface on day 1 in 2002..was a bit different than this..,said Ganguly in his post.

His response left the fans in splits with some of them opining that this kind of bonding is needed in the current team.

On Friday, two young batters of India’s new Test era dazzled with brilliant strokes to hit a century each and totally dominate England on day one of the newly constituted Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy.

New captain Shubman Gill, with a magnificent 127 not out, and Yashasvi Jaiswal, scoring 101, led India’s charge, while vice-captain Rishabh Pant added a steady 65 not out as India amassed a formidable 359/3 in 85 overs after losing the toss and fully capitalised on England’s weak bowling line-up.

–IANS

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