ENG Vs IND 2018: Ravichandran Ashwin is a Very Good Bowler - Keaton Jennings

England batsman Keaton Jennings had a word of praise for Team India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin after day one of the first Test at Edgbaston.

The build-up to the series was dominated by talks regarding whether the Indian spinners would get a chance in the playing eleven in the pacer-friendly English conditions like Birmingham.

So much so, there were also speculations that India might prefer Kuldeep Yadav ahead of Ashwin. However, it took Ashwin only two overs to prove why he is considered as the best off-spinner in the world at the moment.

In his very second over, he castled Alastair Cook with a delivery that might be the ball of the series. He went on to take four scalps for 60 as India finished day one well on top.

Speedster Mohammed Shami bagged two wickets while Umesh Yadav and Ishant Sharma got one wicket each, helping India reduce the hosts to 285 for nine.

Speaking after the day’s play, Keaton Jennings lavished praise on Ravichandran Ashwin, calling him a good bowler and praising him for his line and length.

“He’s a very good bowler. He lands the ball in the right place and varies his pace. He bowled nicely today. At the end of the day, we come up with a game plan in order to play off-spinners as a left-hander. Bowled a good ball to Cooky this morning, maybe that came down to a bit of tackiness in the surface. I’ve played him a couple of times, played against him at Worcester last year, so it’s not the first time I’ve played against him and hopefully, I get many more opportunities to,” Jennings said.

England, meanwhile, would rue squandering the chance of finishing strongly. At 216 for three, they were looking set to finish the day on a high.

However, once Virat Kohli ran out Joe Root, England suffered a dramatic collapse. They lost wickets at regular intervals and eventually finished the day on 285 for nine.