Watch- Ravichandran Ashwin cleans up Ben Duckett as he draws first blood to win the Dharamsala Test

Veteran India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has got the wicket of England opener Ben Duckett once again in the ongoing 5th and series concluding Test. Duckett, in his ultra-aggressive approach, wanted to drag Ashwin’s delivery for a six by stepping out but the left-hander missed the entire length and got clean bowled.

This will probably be the 4th or 5th time that Ben Duckett has given his wicket to Ravichandran Ashwin who is now inching closer towards another 5-wicket haul. Ashwin had registered a five-for in the 4th Test at Ranchi where India claimed their 17th straight home red-ball series win by 5 wickets.

Ravichandran Ashwin claims two more after Duckett’s dismissal

After the dismissal of Ben Duckett for 2 runs, Ravichandran Ashwin removed his partner Zak Crawley for a duck moments later with a catch at backward short-leg by Sarfaraz Khan. 4 overs later Ollie Pope got out while playing a rash sweep shot which took the leading edge and fell into the hands of Yashasvi Jaiswal.

England have been reduced to 3 wickets already before scoring 100 runs and the onus is now upon Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow to at least make sure they decrease the trail to some extent. Bairstow who is playing his 100th Test match in Dharamshala, hasn’t been able to get going in the 5-match series.

Bairstow’s out-of-form phase from the middle-order is among the key reasons why England have performed so poorly in the series. The 34-year-old hasn’t been able to even touch the 40-run mark with his highest score being 38 in the previous Test match. But since the time he came on to bat today, Bairstow has been going aggressively after the Indian bowlers, especially Ravichandran Ashwin.

𝙁𝙞𝙧𝙨𝙩 𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧, 𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙨𝙩 𝙫𝙞𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙢! 😎 Ashwin’s magic is in full swing. ✨ #IDFCFirstBankTestSeries #BazBowled #INDvENG #JioCinemaSports pic.twitter.com/PZmf0yl9kY

— JioCinema (@JioCinema) March 9, 2024

Jonny Bairstow has smashed 3 fours and 3 sixes already and now he will be looking to build on the start he has got off to. Joe Root on the other hand will also hope to continue the flow of runs he had in the 4th Test. Root scored a hard-fought and hard-worked 122* in Ranchi but his efforts weren’t enough to give England the win.

But in the final Test match, at least Root should play the way he has been in his illustrious career. However, tension has further increased for England as Kuldeep Yadav who registered a 5-wicket haul in the 1st innings, has got his first wicket of the 3rd innings. Jonny Bairstow yet again gave away his wicket cheaply by not reading the ball Kuldeep bowled. The wicket fell right after Shubman Gill and Bairstow exchanged a few words during the overbreak.

Can Ravichandran Ashwin claim a 10-wicket haul at Dharamshala

As the pressure surmounts on England, Ravichandran Ashwin should be looking to try and register his 9th 10-wicket haul across innings at Dharamshala. Australia’s Nathan Lyon had recently done the same during the 1st Test against New Zealand last week.

Ravichandran Ashwin will need another 4 wickets as he already has 6 to his name in this match. And with the type of form he is in, the off-spinner can achieve the feat.