Yashasvi Jaiswal (101) and Shubman Gill (127*) hit centuries to put India in a comfortable position at the end of the first day's play of the Test match against hosts England on Friday.

India finished the day's play at 359 runs for the loss of three wickets with Gill and Rishabh Pant (65*), the young leaders of the new-look Indian Test team, finishing the proceedings after England opted to bowl first after winning the toss.

KL Rahul, who opened the Indian innings with Jaiswal, scored 42 runs.

After Rahul's departure, English bowlers put pressure on the Indian team further by dismissing debutant Sai Sudharsan (0) in the last ball before lunch.

Jaiswal 16 boundaries and a six, and offered a strong start at the start of the innings, which left English bowlers struggling all through the day to give India a tough challenge.

Gill was under pressure to deliver on the first day with the 144 billion population expecting a smooth transition for the Test team after Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and R Ashwin announced their retirements in recent times.

Gill, 25, one of the youngest cricketers to lead the cricket crazy nation, live dupto the expectation by delivering with the bat against the strong English side on their home turf and giving hope that India will put up a strong show against the hosts in the five-match series.

The English bowlers struggled with their performance with Stokes picking up two wickets in the innings so far.