Watch- Sarfaraz Khan takes a sharp catch at forward short leg as Ravichandran Ashwin gets rid off Ben Duckett

Veteran Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has helped the hosts earn an early breakthrough during England’s 2nd innings with the bat in the 4th Test at the JSCA stadium in Ranchi. Ashwin picked the wicket of the dangerous opening batter Ben Duckett for just 15 off 15 to put Rohit Sharma’s side up front as they look to restrict the visitors for as low as possible.

The decision by Rohit Sharma to bring in Ravichandran Ashwin right away with the new ball worked as the latter bowled a quick, fuller length delivery which took the splice off Duckett’s bat for a routine catch to Short leg fielder Sarfaraz Khan.

Watch Ben Duckett’s dismissal

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Right after Duckett’s departure for 15 runs, Ravi Ashwin removed England’s hero from the 1st Test in Hyderabad Ollie Pope for a golden duck with an exceptional LBW trap. This was Pope’s second consecutive duck in this Test match at Ranchi as debutant pacer Akash Deep had scalped his wicket in a similar in the 1st innings for a duck off 2 balls.

As soon as Ravichandran Ashwin went on a hat-trick, spectators inside the JSCA stadium erupted with loud cheers. Ashwin bowled an identical delivery to Pope, full and on the wicket to wicket length which the Englishman failed to pick up as he remained stuck in his stance while the ball came crashing to his pads.

Pope was quick to take the DRS in which the ball just clipped the stumps but since the on-field umpire signaled out, the umpire’s call remained in favor of the Indians. This is exactly the type of start Rohit Sharma’s side needed after wicket-keeper batsman Dhruv Jurel who is playing only his 2nd international test match, helped India reach the 300-mark and put the trail off by 46 runs with a commendable 90 off 149.

Jurel was the only other standout performer with the bat other than wonder boy Yashasvi Jaiswal who went back to the pavilion on day 2 for 73 runs before dragging on Shoaib Bashir’s length delivery onto his stumps. The visitors after losing Pope and Duckett cheaply, will now hope for Joe Root to play a similar knock as he did in the 1st innings.

If Root sticks on, scores a century and drags England to even a 250+ total then it will be difficult for the home team batters to chase down. The cracked up pitch will become difficult to bat on in the 4th innings and the type of rhythm these English spinners – Bashir and Tom Hartley are in, they will only make life difficult for the hosts.

Ravichandran Ashwin over takes Anil Kumble’s tally of most Test wickets on home soil

With the back-to-back wickets of Ben Duckett and Ollie Pope, Ravichandran Ashwin has overtaken former legendary leg-spinner and former India captain Anil Kumble’s tally of 350 Test wickets on home soil. The right-arm off-spinner reached the incredible landmark in lesser matches than Kumble who achieved this feat in 63 outings while Ashwin did so in 59 home Test outings.