ENG v IND: Ishant Sharma Bags Fifer to Take India into a Dominant Position

The senior-most bowler in the Indian team, Ishant Sharma produced a sensational spell of fast bowling and bagged a 5 wicket haul to take India to a dominant position in the opening Test against England at Edgbaston. It was a superb spell by the lanky speedster as he finished with exceptional figures of 5/51. England began the day’s play with the score reading 9/1. It was Ravichandran Ashwin who had bagged the wicket late on Day 2 in the form of Alastair Cook.

Ashwin continued his good work and bagged the wickets of Keaton Jennings and Joe Root quite early in the 3^rd day to out India firmly in control of proceedings. However, the host’s middle order batting was simply blown away by a certain Ishant Sharma. He had a huge problem in inducing the edge of the right-handers. His wrist position wasn’t allowing him to generate swing away from the right-hander.

Ishant Sharma makes the ball talk 

Hence he failed to get any reward in the initial stages. However, the wicket of Dawid Malan made him a completely different bowler. Though his wrist position didn’t change quite a lot he made full use of the crease and started inducing edges on a consistent basis. He bagged the wicket of Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler in a single over.

Bairstow edged a full-length delivery and Shikhar Dhawan accepted it gleefully. Ben Stokes fell just a delivery after in a similar fashion. The dismissal was followed by the Lunch interval. He came back strongly and dismissed Jos Buttler in the final delivery of the over which continued after the lunch interval. It was a special effort from Ishant who has been criticized in the past for not living up to his reputations.

He came back in his last spell to bag the wicket of Stuart Broad and finish his 5 wicket haul. Meanwhile, Sam Curran, their bowling hero continued his good run and smashed a brilliant half-century. It ensured England took their lead to 193. India needs to bat well to chase the total down.

Here is how Twitter reacted to India’s wonderful display and Ishant’s fifer

England has lost five wickets. Now comes the difficult phase for the Indian bowlers – to claim the last five quickly!#ENGvIND#INDvsENG

— Mohandas Menon (@mohanstatsman) August 3, 2018

Ishant Sharma now has 243 Test wickets! He has just gone ahead of BS Chandrashekar's tally of 242 wickets.
Now only six Indian bowlers are ahead of him in Test cricket!#ENGvIND#INDvsENG

— Mohandas Menon (@mohanstatsman) August 3, 2018

The BCCI website is on fire. #ENGvIND pic.twitter.com/QE8cpT2iui

— Rishabh (@rishabhism) August 3, 2018

Ishant Sharma in (Eng + Nz + SA) since Feb 2014
Tests : 8
Wkts : 42*
Avg : 23.23
SR : 44.85
Best : 7/74
5-fers : 3
– Best bowling avg by any Asian bowler (Min 15 wkts)
– only Asian bowler to take more than 2 fifers in these countries
– Most wickets by any Asian bowler#ENGvIND

— JSK (@imjsk27) August 3, 2018

What a session for India!

After Ashwin struck twice in the first hour, Ishant Sharma has gone one better, with Malan, Jonny Bairstow, and Ben Stokes all caught in the slips.

Can England fight back after Lunch?

ENG: 86/6 (30.4 overs)#ENGvIND LIVE ?https://t.co/jre8L0pd2t pic.twitter.com/9CkC6iv7Wv

— ICC (@ICC) August 3, 2018

No pace bowler in the world has picked more wickets away from home against SAF, ENG, NZ and AUS since Jan. 2014 than Ishant Sharma. Those 48 wickets have come at an average of around 29- seventh best in the world and the best for a sub-continent pacer. @KumarSanga2 #ENGvIND

— Soham Sarkhel (@Soham_Sarkhel) August 3, 2018

He's no longer that unlucky guy who only beats the bat — ISHANT SHARMA has a FIFER — His 8th in Tests.

1⃣ – Malan
2⃣ – Bairstow
3⃣ – Stokes
4⃣ – Buttler
5⃣ – Broad#ENGvIND pic.twitter.com/j0fOEOlVLf

— Cricbuzz (@cricbuzz) August 3, 2018

Ishant Sharma 3rd Indian bowler to claim a five-wicket haul at Edgbaston after Kapil Dev (5/146 in 1979) and Chetan Sharma (6/58 in 1986).#ENGvIND#INDvsENG

— Mohandas Menon (@mohanstatsman) August 3, 2018

I want to see Shikhar Dhawan contributing in this innings. I am desperate to see him perform and shut the haters. Good luck India!#ENGvIND

— Jaanvi? (@ThatCric8Girl) August 3, 2018

With The Ball Swinging It Looks Like India Win Will Depend On How Virat Kohli Plays.#ENGvIND pic.twitter.com/BbNUqYf6MK

— EXISCRICKET.COM (@exiscricket) August 3, 2018

England's tormentors – Ashwin and Ishant – both have played in the county cricket lately. The experience is paying off. India approaching another good Test win. #EngvInd

— Mazher Arshad (@MazherArshad) August 3, 2018

https://twitter.com/brainfadesmith/status/1025385338657624066

https://twitter.com/brainfadesmith/status/1025385338657624066

If Malan and Dhawan go out for dinner, who pays

England and India.#EngvInd

— Gaurav Sethi (@BoredCricket) August 3, 2018