As a powerful India destroys England, Ashwin shines

On the third day of the fifth Test against England in Dharamsala, R Ashwin’s 36th five-wicket haul (5-77) in Test matches spearheaded India’s clinical bowling display, propelling the hosts to a massive winning margin of an innings and 64 runs. The off-spinner finished the match tied with Muttiah Muralitharan for the most wickets in the historic Test—9—becoming just the fourth bowler in history to reach a fifer in the 100th Test. The only England batsman to display grit in the second innings was Joe Root (84), who appeared almost faultless at the crease but ran out of partners on the other end.

Tom Hartley pledged to engage Root in a lengthy conversation before  Jasprit Bumrah removed him by LBW.  India’s vice-captain created a similar nut  to get Mark Wood leg before wicket in the same over. However, Shoaib Bashir stayed focused on helping Root achieve a ton for a time, and the collaboration extended the duration of the game. But a Cracker from Ravindra Jadeja cleaned Bashir, so Root had to take the bowling on. He died too soon in the process, handing India a humiliating victory. As in the first innings, England’s batting collapsed once more.

Following James Anderson’s historic 700th wicket in the morning session which quickly ended India’s innings, England had to mount a formidable defense to finish the tour. Unfortunately for them, things did not work out.. With his cunning, R Ashwin’s cut through the top-order, making England’s batters play erratically. As in the first innings, Jonny Bairstow (39 off 31) threatened to make some noise, but Kuldeep Yadav cut him off as soon as the wrist spinner was introduced. England’s woes in the series were summed up when Stokes was dismissed by  Ashwin’s at the stroke of lunchtime.

Kuldeep’s mastery (5-72) on day one laid the groundwork for R Ashwin’s victory, should he seal the match on day three. Although it took courage for England to bat in seamer-friendly conditions, it quickly became clear that the decision was the right one. The pitch began to play true after the morning session, enabling batters to make contact with the ball. But if spinners were willing to be accurate, there was a small hold there, and Kuldeep was just that. It did not hurt that a plethora of trickery armed him that England could not match. The 29-year-old’s versatility had damaged the visitors throughout the series, and Dharamsala was no exception.

While Zak Crawley (79) demonstrated that runs could be scored. Kuldeep’s removal demonstrated his performance in the first-inning performance. It was unacceptable for the visitors to lose six wickets in just 37 balls on a solid batting surface. of the first innings, Ashwin dutifully dismissed the lower order to finish with a four-fer. The veteran then proceeded to bowl nearly his best of the series in the second innings. India’s batsmen capitalized on the surface by scoring a tonne of runs, not making the same error as their opponents. Yashasvi Jaiswal reached over 700 runs in the series and hammered a fifty, but he was unable to continue.

But the lift he provided allowed Rohit Sharma (103), and Shubman Gill (110) to score their second tons of the series, respectively. Their 171-run partnership broke England as they scored boundaries quickly. Both sent the spinners packing, and Stokes’s unconventional ideas involving the field sets also proved to be unsuccessful. It was entertaining to watch Shubman Gill’s footwork against spin. While Rohit gorged himself on everything short and wide on either side of the wicket. England succeeded in dismissing the Indian skipper after Stokes’ magic ball. The first of the series, removed the next set of batsmen. Anderson then took Gill. But India remained steadfast in their pursuit of victory.

After thereafter, Devdutt Padikkal (65) and Sarfaraz Khan (56) faced their fifty-ties. When England was looking to gain more ground with the ball reversing, the two came out with a counterpunch attitude. Both experienced their fair share of luck, but they also showed incredible bravery by casting daring spells. With Bumrah (20) and Kuldeep (30) sharing a 49-run partnership, India’s batsmen completely silenced England’s merciless bowling attack. Although Bashir (5-173) did bowl well at times, his inexperience was evident as he ended with a fifer.

 

The two moments in the match that England will never forget were Anderson’s century and Stokes’ brilliant pass to Sharma. Over the course of the series, the visitors’ confused batting strategy and bowling attack were exposed. On the Dharamsala sporting field, India was just unstoppable.