Kuldeep Yadav’s five-wicket haul ensured England were bundled out for 218 after which India’s batters put up a strong start in the fifth Test against England at Dharamsala on Thursday.
Together with fellow spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, who claimed four wickets in his historic 100th Test match, Yadav recorded figures of 5/72 to bowl out the tourists in a mere 57.4 overs. India reached 135/1 at stumps, trailing England by 83 runs.
At the end of play, captain Rohit Sharma (52*) and Shubman Gill (26*) were batting after in-form Yashasvi Jaiswal (57) was dismissed.
Jaiswal became the second fastest Indian after Vinod Kambli (14 innings) to breach the 1000-run milestone in Test cricket. He achieved the feat in just his 16th innings since his debut last year.
He hit spinner Shoaib Bashir for three sixes in an over and solidified his lead as the top run-scorer of the series with 712 runs. However, Bashir stumped Jaiswal to halt the opening stand at 104 runs.
Earlier in the day, England had decided to bat first. Zak Crawley got things going with a solid 79, but after that England’s batting imploded, leaving them reeling at from 175/3.
Batters Jonny Bairstow (29), in his 100th Test, Joe Root (26) and skipper Ben Stokes – out for a duck – went back on the same team score of 175. In seven overs, England lost five wickets for eight runs.
Crawley, who raised his fourth half-century of the series in the first session, put on 64 runs with Ben Duckett (27). After a couple of near misses, Yadav knocked him off with a delivery that turned in sharply and struck the stumps.
