Ashwin, Jadeja turn it on; England 108/3 at lunch

PTI, Jan 25, 2024, 11:54 AM IST

Indian spinners were at their effective best in exploiting the turn on offer to jolt England’s ‘Bazball’ ambitions in the first session of the first Test itself, reducing them to 108 for three at lunch here on Thursday.

Joe Root (18 batting) and Jonny Bairstow (32 batting) are holding the fort for England, who batted by choice, after Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja put them through the wringer.

Ashwin and Jadeja started their symphony in the ninth over of the morning after England openers Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley plundered 41 runs in the initial eight overs.

Ashwin fetched the first breakthrough, trapping Duckett ((35, 39b, 7×4) in front of the wicket, underlining for the zillionth time his mastery over left-handed batters.

The 37-year-old managed to skid one on and Duckett played for non-existent spin and the ball beat his bat to hit the pads.

Umpire Chris Gaffaney did not have to think long before raising his finger, and even a review could not save Duckett as England’s opening stand ended at 55.

It was Ashwin’s 11th ball of the innings and Jadeja followed his partner’s suit soon with a regulation left-arm spinner dismissal.

Jadeja found enough turn and bounce outside the off-stump and Ollie Pope’s edge was pouched at first slip by skipper Rohit Sharma in the 14th over.

Ashwin added a 492nd Test wicket to his kitty in the very next over as Crawley wanted to assert himself over the off-spinner.

The right-hander drilled a fuller delivery to mid-off where Mohammed Siraj completed a fine tumbling catch, and the replays also confirmed the legality of his effort.

England were 60 for three then before Root and Bairstow steered them with luck and pluck for the rest of the passage with more hefty work coming their way in the second session.

However, the start England made to this Test belied their travails later on.

Duckett and Crawley carried the visitors past 50 in the 11th over after cracking 25 in the first four overs bowled by pacers Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj.

The Indian quicks managed to beat the outside edge of England batters a few times but they were also not consistent with their line and length.

Duckett’s off-drive off Bumrah that raced to the fence, perhaps, was the shot of the morning. But the nature of the contest transformed drastically once India turned to their spinners.