It was one for the album. As the Indian cricketers walked off the pitch on Thursday afternoon after bundling out England for 218 in the first innings of the final Test, Kuldeep Yadav and Mohammed Siraj threw the ball to Ravichandran Ashwin.
They wanted him to lead the side off the field as this was his 100th Test and he claimed a four-fer. But a generous Ashwin gave the red cherry back to Kuldeep, put his hands on the latter’s shoulders and insisted on him doing the honours, having claimed a fifer and ripping apart England’s batting line-up.
On a day when all of England’s wickets fell to spin at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) Stadium, Kuldeep reluctantly agreed to lead the team off the pitch and raised the ball towards the crowd, who chanted his name.
The picturesque venue has been special for the wrist-spinner. This is where he made his Test debut, back in 2017, and played a key role in guiding India to its hardest-fought series win at home in 12 years.
While it’s a different story that Kuldeep featured in only 11 Tests thereafter, he stamped his class once again on Thursday, claiming his fourth five-wicket haul in red-ball cricket. He also became the third left-arm wrist spinner to get to 50 Test wickets and was the fastest Indian to that mark.
After Ben Stokes opted to bat at the toss, the Dharamsala surface offered considerable help to the Indian seamers before Kuldeep and Ashwin got into the business.
IND vs ENG Day 1 Highlights, 5th Test
While openers Zak Crawley (79, 108b, 11x4, 1x6) and Ben Duckett negotiated the early hour with a bit of determination, things changed drastically once Kuldeep was brought into the attack.
Duckett aimed to take on Kuldeep in his first over - a move that backfired and eventually brought India back into the game. The English opener attempted a slog across the line, but sliced it over extra cover and Shubman Gill ran from behind to take a fine catch. At the stroke of lunch, Kuldeep added to England’s woes by foxing Ollie Pope with a googly, and Dhruv Jurel completed a rather easy stumping.
In the post-lunch session, Crawley survived a catch at short leg by Sarfaraz who insisted on the review, but Rohit Sharma denied the request. The UltraEdge, however, showed a minor spike.
As Crawley looked set for a century, Kuldeep trapped him leg before and also triggered England’s middle-order collapse.
From being comfortably placed at 175 for 3, the visiting team lost its last seven wickets for just 43 runs.
Neither Ben Stokes nor Jonny Bairstow - also featuring in his 100th Test - could get going, and it seemed an uphill task for England to breach the 200-run mark before Ben Foakes and Shoaib Bashir stepped in. However, Ashwin furrowed the tail to maintain India’s dominance.
Yashasvi Jaiswal in action during the fifth Test match at Dharamsala. | Photo Credit: MOORTHY RV/ The Hindu
After spin masterclass, time for Jaisball
As the sun shone bright, India was off to a racy start with Yashasvi Jaiswal (57, 58b, 5x4, 3x6) leapfrogging into the 1000-run club within seven months of his Test debut. The 22-year-old became the second fastest to the milestone - after Vinod Kambli - and was the second Indian to score 700 in a Test series after the legendary Sunil Gavaskar.
Playing his aggressive game, Jaiswal sacrificed his wicket in search of a big hit, soon after forging a 104-run opening partnership. By then, he had reached his fourth half-century, and looked on course to convert it further.
However, after his dismissal, captain Rohit (52 batting, 83b, 6x4, 2x6) anchored the ship, bringing up his fifty to help India end the day at 135 for 1 - trailing by 83 runs.
Also read | Yashasvi Jaiswal becomes fastest Indian to score 1000 Test runs
After a spin masterclass by Kuldeep and Ashwin, the England spinners could not cause any concerns to the Indian batters. They were either too full or too quick and making most of the inexperienced attack, Rohit and Jaiswal built the highest opening partnership in the series, and looked at ease throughout their stay at the crease.
At the fag end, Gill, too, looked threatening, having hit a couple of boundaries and as many sixes. With four days remaining and India in the driver’s seat, England has a mountain to climb.
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