India vs England 5th Test: Ahead of Day 1 of the 5th Test in Dharamshala, spinner Kuldeep Yadav was not sure if he would get a chance to play as Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid were looking to include a third seamer in the playing XI to capitalize on the cold conditions of Dharamshala. But, something stopped them from experimenting and it proved to be a great decision as Kuldeep Yadav dismissed all doubts with his 5-wicket haul on Day 1.
With a fifer on Dharamshala cricket ground, Kuldeep Yadav became the world’s quickest spinner to clinch 50 wickets. The left-arm spinner took just 1,871 balls to reach 50 Test wickets. In terms of matches played, Kuldeep Yadav joined Indian legends like Subhash Gupte, Erapalli Prasanna, and Axar Patel to become the sixth fastest Indian spinners to clinch 50 Test wickets.
Moreover, Kuldeep Yadav is the world’s third left-arm spinner to clinch 50 Test wickets after South Africa’s Paul Adams and England’s Johnny Wardle.
India’s spin magic in Dharamshala
Kuldeep Yadav, Ravichandran Ashwin, and Ravindra Jadeja bowled a dream spell to clean up England’s batting order on a low score of 218. The visitors started well with a 64-run opening partnership between Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett, but Kuldeep Yadav provided the hosts with the first breakthrough with the wicket of Duckett.
Yadav’s second prey was Ollie Pope and then Zak Crawley, who was looking stunning against India from the beginning of the match. Ravindra Jadeja provided India with the fourth wicket as he dismissed Joe Root.
Kuldeep Yadav again came into play and clinched two wickets in quick succession- Jonny Bairstow and skipper Ben Stokes. But, then came the man everybody was waiting for, Ravichandran Ashwin, who is playing his 100th Test match in Dharamshala.
Living up to his spin wizard title, Ravichandran Ashwin clinched four wickets to hammer the final nail in the coffin of England’s batting and the visitors were all out on a score of 218, providing India an opportunity to finish the series 4-1.
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Published: 07 Mar 2024, 04:46 PM IST
