Kuldeep Yadav bagged his fourth fifer in Test cricket as he took 5/72 on day 1 of the Dharamsala Test match. Ravichandran Ashwin on his 100th Test took 4/51 as India bowled out England for 218 in their first innings.
India ended the day in a strong position on 135/1. Yashasvi Jaiswal (57) added a 104-run opening stand with skipper Rohit Sharma who was unbeaten on 52. The skipper added a 31-run stand with Shubman Gill (26) to ensure that India ended the day on a high.
Meanwhile, on a flat batting pitch, Kuldeep Yadav’s bowling performance was praised by all the commentators who presided over the match. Sanjay Manjrekar even spoke about making Kuldeep a permanent feature on the Indian Test side after this performance. There were talks of India playing an extra seamer but Rohit persisted with Kuldeep and he delivered.
After the end of the day’s play, Kuldeep Yadav revealed his interesting conversation with Ravichandran Ashwin who also took four wickets and made his 100th Test outing memorable.
“He is very kind and humble. Obviously, playing his 100th Test match for India… it is unbelievable. I’ve been with the team for seven years, and I’ve seen his ups and downs. It is lovely to have him in the dressing room and to learn from him. I thought he was playing his 100th game, and he deserves that. He is a very special player,” Kuldeep said.
Kuldeep further revealed what Ashwin told him on the back to the pavilion after the day’s play in Dharamsala.
“He told me the same thing! … I got 35, so, you can keep it!” Kuldeep said.
It was Kuldeep who wanted to hand over the ball to the senior spinner out of respect but Ashwin being the player that he is persisted Kuldeep to keep the match ball and also lead the team out of the field of play after the end of the innings.
Also Read: Yashasvi Jaiswal shatters Virat Kohli’s all-time Test record against England to top the elite list
It was a day when all the 10 opposition wickets were taken by the Indian spinners. Kuldeep took five, Ashwin took four and Ravindra Jadeja took the key wicket of Joe Root. The Indian fielders held onto their catches and were efficient with their ground fielding as well.
After the bowling performance, it was India’s batting performance that hogged the limelight. During the course of the innings, Rohit went past went past 1000 runs as India’s Test captain. Yashasvi Jaiswal went past 700 runs in the series and also went past 1000 Test runs.
Jaiswal now has 712 runs in the series so far surpassing Virat Kohli’s 655-run series against England in 2016. He is also the second Indian batter to score more than 700 runs in a Test series after Sunil Gavaskar did it thrice in his career.
I Am Enjoying My Game: Kuldeep Yadav
Kuldeep Yadav also went past 50 Test wickets in his 12th Test match similar to Axar Patel. However, he did it in less number of balls, in 1871 as compared to Axar’s 2205.
“I am enjoying my game. To be honest I put a lot of hard work after my surgery in 2021. It’s just the reward I am getting now. I worked on my pace, it’s very important when you play a Test match in India. I am just enjoying my bowling. I liked the Zak Crawley wicket. He batted really well throughout the series, a good player of spin. It’s important not to think about the wicket and I am someone who relies on my skill and variation in length. Not to think about what the wicket is going to produce. Just focus on the areas,” Kuldeep spoke about his mentality regarding the game.
Also Read: Watch: Rohit Sharma’s sensational pull shot off Mark Wood’s thunderbolt that dazzled Suryakumar Yadav
