Dharamsala (TIP)- Kuldeep Yadav seems to have a special connection with the HPCA stadium here. It was at the same venue that Kuldeep made his Test debut seven years ago — incidentally, it was also in the month of March. Kuldeep had picked up four wickets against Australia in the first innings.
In only the second Test hosted by the stadium, Kuldeep again lit up the opening day with a five-wicket haul to put India on top against England in the fifth and final Test of the series.
On the eve of the Test, England skipper Ben Stokes had termed the pitch as a “belter”. However, the visitors seemed to have completely misjudged the conditions as the English batters were picked apart by India’s spin trio — Kuldeep (5/72), Ravichandran Ashwin (4/51) and Ravindra Jadeja (1/17). England folded up for 218 in less than 60 overs.
It looked like a completely different pitch when India batted as the hosts replied strongly to cut down most of the deficit. Attacking fifties by openers Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal led the hosts to 135/1 in 35 overs. Despite England holding a strong position at 175/3, India’s bowlers made a stunning comeback and all credit goes to Kuldeep, who used the flight and drift to get his fourth five-wicket haul. The mild wind blowing at the ground helped new-ball bowlers Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj. But England’s openers survived the initial period of fierce swing bowling.
However, the breakthrough came in the 18th over when Kuldeep took charge. After being hit for two fours, Kuldeep’s flight was rewarded as Ben Duckett’s mistimed hit was caught by a diving Shubman Gill.
He could have got rid of Zak Crawley (79 off 108) off his second ball of the day but India opted against taking a review for a catch. Kuldeep, though, got his man eventually with a brilliant delivery that crashed into Crawley’s leg-stump.
Kuldeep got Ollie Pope (11), Jonny Bairstow (29), who is playing his 100th Test, and Stokes (0) with googlies. From the other end, Jadeja trapped Joe Root (26) and England were suddenly struggling at 175/6.
Ashwin could not be denied in his 100th Test as the veteran off-spinner cleaned up the tail, dismissing Tom Hartley (6) and Mark Wood (0) in the same over, before wrapping up the England innings with wickets of Ben Foakes (24) and James Anderson (0).
While the ball did wonders for India, the English bowlers failed to find much support. The conditions changed as the sun began to set. Openers Sharma and Jaiswal were off to a flying start. The skipper posted an unbeaten 52, while Jaiswal scored 57 before getting stumped by Foakes off Shoaib Bashir. The left-hander crossed the 1000-run mark in only his ninth Test. Source: TNS