On the opening day of the fifth Test, spinners Kuldeep Yadav and Ravichandran Ashwin showcased their brilliance, collectively taking nine wickets to bowl out England for 218. Opting to bat first at the scenic Dharamsala stadium, England’s promising start crumbled after Zak Crawley’s resilient 79.
Yadav, displaying exceptional left-arm wrist spin, claimed a notable milestone by surpassing 50 Test wickets with impressive figures of 5-72. Meanwhile, off-spinner Ashwin, celebrating his 100th Test appearance, broke Ben Foakes’ resistance, dismissing the wicketkeeper-batsman for 24 and concluding the innings in the same over.
Crawley, registering his fourth half-century of the series, encountered a few escapes before Yadav bowled him with a sharply turning delivery. Jonny Bairstow, marking his 100th Test, contributed with a brisk 29 but fell victim to Yadav’s deceptive googly, caught behind after reaching 6,000 Test runs.
Ravindra Jadeja added to England’s woes by trapping former captain Joe Root lbw for 26, who burned another unsuccessful review. England’s last review was squandered when skipper Ben Stokes was adjudged lbw off Yadav for a duck, securing the spinner’s five-wicket haul.
In the initial session, Crawley and Ben Duckett formed a solid partnership of 64 runs before Yadav dismissed Duckett with a cleverly induced leading-edge catch by Shubman Gill. Pope’s stumping off Yadav on the brink of lunch added to England’s troubles.
Despite losing the opening Test, India, led by Rohit Sharma, rebounded to secure an insurmountable 3-1 lead in the five-match series.
