Wide range of shots and fearless approach - Ravichandran Ashwin likens Yashasvi Jaiswal to Rishabh Pant

Ace Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin took three for 68 while Ravindra Jadeja took three for 88 as England were bowled out for 246 in their first innings. India in response scored 119/1 in 23 overs.

The first day of the first Test in Hyderabad saw 365 runs being scored and 11 wickets falling. Jack Leach dismissed Rohit Sharma with India on 80 to give them a jolt before the end of the day’s play. Jaiswal played an attacking innings, giving India an upper hand at the stumps.

Ravichandran Ashwin was at his crafty best on the very first day with the pitch turning from the very first session. He and Ravindra Jadeja brought England down from 55 for no loss to 60 for three in the blink of an eye.

Joe Root (29 off 60) and Jonny Bairstow (37 off 58) then added a 61-run stand to take the side to 212. India dismissed Root and Bairstow in quick succession bringing themselves back into the game. However, skipper Ben Stokes played a counter-attacking knock and along with the tail scored the majority of the team’s runs.

He first added 18 runs with Rehan Ahmed (13 off 18) and then added a crucial 38 runs with debutant Tom Hartley who scored 23 off 24 deliveries. Mark Wood also chipped in with 11 off 24 deliveries to take the score close to 250. England were finally dismissed for 246 with Stokes falling for 70. Ashwin in his post-match interaction spoke about the pitch and how it behaved throughout the phase of play.

The Pitch Turned And Became Slow: Ravichandran Ashwin

“It was pretty interesting in the first session, maybe there was a bit of moisture. Because of the early moisture, there was enough speed in the pitch in the first session. Then it slowed down. The ball that spun … not enough speed to carry through to the slip fielders. You need to mix your pace up and be extremely consistent for you to not be giving runs in this pitch” said Ashwin.

He further lauded Rohit and Jaiswal for giving India a quick start and was hopeful that one of the Indian batters would play a big knock and help the team get a big lead.

“240 was a very very good competitive total I thought. When we left the field, I was thinking probably 30-40 runs more than what we would have liked. The start that Jaiswal and Rohit gave us is making us breathe a little easy. Someone going on and making a hundred tomorrow will put us in the driver’s seat,” the veteran Indian spinner further added.

Ashwin started the Test match on 490 wickets and now is just 7 short of getting to 500 wickets in Test cricket. He is also inching closer to taking 100 wickets against England. He now has 91 wickets against the visitors and is nine short of becoming the only Indian bowler with 100 or more wickets against England.

Ashwin was also full of praise for the young Indian opener Yashasvi Jaiswal. He is just playing his fifth Test match and his first against England. The southpaw took the England attack by surprise. He was especially very attacking against the spinners. In no time he scored an unbeaten 76 off 70 balls including nine fours and three sixes.

“Somebody breaks through the system, doesn’t have any excess baggage, had a great time in the IPL, had a wonderful start to his first-class cricket. He’s literally not put a foot wrong. He’s walked into Test cricket, he’s taken it like a fish to water. His carefree approach is enabling him to play some wonderful shots. I am quite enjoying it. I get a feeling sometimes when he’s batting, I am seeing Rishabh Pant there. Both of them bat similarly to the left-arm spinner. Jaiswal has got a lot of shots, his range is pretty wide and the fearless approach at the moment is serving him really well” said Ashwin on Jaiswal.

Ravindra Jadeja two took three for 88 while Axar Patel took 2/33. Jasprit Bumrah took the wicket of Rehan Ahmed and skipper Ben Stokes.

Also Read: IND vs ENG scorecard, 1st Test, Day 1 highlights: Bowlers, Yashasvi Jaiswal help India dominate first day