New Delhi: India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin on Sunday surpassed Harbhajan Singh on the list of most wickets on home soil during Day 2 of the 2nd Test against England in Chennai
Ashwin took full advantage of the turning Chennai pitch and bagged the wickets of Dom Sibley, Dan Lawrence and England captain Joe Root to equal Bhajji’s tally of 265 in the first session. The 266th wicket came after dismissing England allrounder Ben Stokes.
Former India captain Anil Kumble leads the list with 350 wickets from 62 matches in India.
What more can you ask for on Valentines!!????#INDvsENG #IndiavsEngland #Ashwin pic.twitter.com/hzS5ZV9Uoz
— Karan Bhatia (@sonofsardar4) February 14, 2021
After bundling out India for 329, England got off to the worst start possible as Rory Burns (0) was adjudged leg-before wicket of the delivery bowled by Ishant Sharma in the very first over of the innings. Soon after, Ravichandran Ashwin removed Sibley (16) and England was reduced to 16/2 in the eighth over.
Skipper Root (6) failed to leave a mark as he top-edged the ball delivered by Axar Patel and as a result, the left-arm spinner got his first wicket in Tests. On the last ball before the lunch break, Ashwin removed Lawrence (9) and England went into the break at 39/4.
https://twitter.com/i/status/1360834627477270528
Earlier, resuming the second day at 300/6, India got off to a bad start as the side lost Axar (5) in just the second over of the day as Moeen Ali had him stumped at the hands of wicketkeeper Ben Foakes. In the very same over, Ali dismissed Ishant for a duck and as a result, the hosts were reduced to 301/8.
After these two wickets, Pant changed his batting style and he unleashed big strokes and as a result, he brought up his fifty off just 65 balls. The spinners were not troubling the number nine Kuldeep Yadav, hence skipper Root introduced Olly Stone into the attack and he immediately gave the breakthrough of Kuldeep (0), reducing the hosts to 325/9.
The Ashwin K3G hug in the end to Pant and Siraj❤#INDvsENG pic.twitter.com/odGmDNTRP6
— Rahul Pandey (@sportstoryguy) February 14, 2021
In the very same over, Stone dismissed the last batsman Mohammed Siraj (4) and as a result, India was bowled out for 329 and Pant remained unbeaten on 58.
On the first day, Rohit Sharma played a knock of 161 while Ajinkya Rahane provided him support with a knock of 67 to help the hosts gain an upper hand in the match.
Brief Scores: India 329 (Rohit Sharma 161, Ajinkya Rahane 67, Moeen Ali 4-128)
