Tea: Jaiswal smashes his way to 7th ton, Sudharsan on 71 as India score 220/1
New Delhi (PTI): Yashasvi Jaiswal was class personified en route his seventh hundred while Sai Sudharsan also displayed his potential as India clobbered the West Indies attack to reach a comfortable 220 for 1 at tea on the opening day of the second Test here on Friday.
Jaiswal, who missed out on a big score during the first Test, was in no mood to let go the second opportunity with some eye-catching strokes as he remained unbeaten on 111 off 162 balls with 16 boundaries to his credit.
Sudharsan was undefeated on 71 off 132 balls with 11 boundaries in a second wicket stand of 162 runs. Kotla is a happy hunting ground for the youngster and he had scored a hundred for Tamil Nadu when he played here the last time.
KL Rahul (38) would rue his luck. There was just one delivery from left-arm spinner Jomel Warrican that turned and bounced at the same time and beat the outside edge of his bat.
In the session between lunch and tea, India plundered as many as 126 runs to leave the West Indies bowling in complete tatters.
The spinners erred in length and the pacers neither got length nor the lines correct with too many easy boundary balls.
After scoring 94 in the first session, the two left-handers were aggressive during the first hour post lunch and boundaries just flowed from their willows.
At one point, they were scoring at nearly six an over before slowing down marginally in the second hour.
The only time in the session when West Indies got anywhere close to getting a second wicket was when Justin Greaves hurried Sudharsan with a climbing ball as he closed his bat face.
The leading edge flew at a comfortable height towards short mid-wicket where Warrican grassed a dolly.
The best shot of the second session was a fierce cut by Sudharsan. He landed his bat like a sledgehammer on a widish delivery from Seals and it raced to the point boundary.
Under pressure after the Ahmedabad Test, Sudharsan didn't look in any sort of trouble against pacers or spinners as the track remained conducive for batting. It also didn't help that the visiting attack was pedestrian as usual.
Jaiswal, who was cautious and aggressive in equal measure during the first session, showed his aggressive streak after lunch.
Both left-arm spinners -- Warrican and Khary Pierre -- bowled short balls and batters got enough time to rock on the back-foot and play on either side of the ground.
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Rupee falls 5 paise to close at 89.94 against US dollar after RBI cuts repo rate
Mumbai (PTI): The rupee on Friday gave up its initial gains and settled for the day lower by 5 paise at 89.94 (provisional) against US dollar, after the Reserve Bank cut key benchmark interest rate for the first time in six months.
Forex traders said the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) rate cut will weigh on the rupee, but RBI's decision to purchase government bonds worth up to Rs 1 lakh crore through open market operations (OMO), combined with a USD 5 billion buy-sell swap, will support the local currency.
At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened at 89.85 against the US dollar and gained ground, touching 89.69 in morning deals, registering a 20-paise gain from its previous close.
After the RBI's monetary policy announcement, the rupee lost ground and fell to 90.06 against the American currency, a 16-paise decline from its previous close of 89.89. The currency is down almost 5 per cent against the dollar this year, the worst performer in Asia.
The local unit finally settled for the day lower by 5 paise at 89.94 (provisional) against the American currency.
"Beyond the rate cut, RBI's decision to purchase government bonds worth up to Rs 1 lakh crore through OMO, combined with a USD 5 billion buy-sell swap, marks a decisive effort to restore durable liquidity and stabilize currency markets after the rupee's sharp depreciation," said Sachin Bajaj, Executive Vice President & Chief Investment Officer, Axis Max Life Insurance.
The RBI on Friday cut the key benchmark interest rate for the first time in six months and took steps to boost liquidity to support a "goldilocks" economy amid high US tariffs.
Reserve Bank Governor Sanjay Malhotra said the central bank does not target any band for the rupee in the forex market, and allows the domestic currency to find its own correct level.
"We don't target any price levels or any bands. We allow the markets to determine the prices. We believe that markets, especially in the long run, are very efficient. It's a very deep market," he said while replying to a question on rupee depreciation at a post-monetary policy press meet.
Malhotra said fluctuations in the market keep occurring, and the RBI's effort is always to reduce any abnormal or excessive volatility. "And that is what we will continue to endeavour," he added.
In its bi-monthly monetary policy, the RBI announced three-year USD/INR Buy Sell swaps of USD 5 billion this month. When asked if this is aimed at checking rupee depreciation, Malhotra said, "It is a liquidity measure. It is not to support the rupee".
The governor further said the country has sufficient foreign exchange reserves and that the current account is manageable, and that, given the strong fundamentals of the economy, the country should witness strong capital flows going forward.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.03 per cent lower at 98.96.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, rose 0.02 per cent to USD 63.27 per barrel in futures trade.
On the domestic equity market front, Sensex jumped 447.05 points to settle at 85,712.37, while the Nifty climbed 152.70 points to 26,186.45.
Foreign institutional investors sold equities worth Rs 1,944.19 crore on a net basis on Thursday, according to exchange data.
