3 talking points from Day 1 of the 5th IND vs ENG Test ft. Kuldeep Yadav's magical Dharamsala return
Team India assumed total control of the fifth and final Test against England as they had a dominant Day 1 despite losing the toss in Dharamsala on Thursday, March 7.
Ben Stokes called right and elected to bat. Despite Zak Crawley's impressive 79, his side failed to make the most of friendly batting conditions. They were rolled over for just 218, with none of the other batters crossing the 30-run mark.
In response, India raced away to 135-1 in 30 overs to reduce the deficit to just 83. With the pitch staying true for the most part, the hosts are in an excellent position to secure a massive first-innings lead and potentially pull off an innings win.
On that note, here are three talking points from Day 1 of the fifth Test between India and England.
#3 Zak Crawley was once again England's standout batter
Zak Crawley, who was once considered a liability in the England batting lineup, has fast become one of their best batters.
He was the side's leading run-scorer in the Ashes and has once again been the standout batter, this time in challenging conditions against a world-class opposition.
Crawley was beaten plenty of times by Jasprit Bumrah, but he hung in and used his reach and shot-making ability to great effect. He hit 11 fours and a six in his 108-ball 79, keeping England ahead of the contest by holding one end up and putting away anything loose.
Crawley's series tally now stands at an impressive 407. Only Yashasvi Jaiswal (712) has managed more runs than the England opener, who has morphed into a seriously good player.
#2 Yashasvi Jaiswal crosses the 700-run mark in an all-timer of a series
Speaking of Jaiswal, the Indian opener is light years ahead of any other batter in the series. He has amassed 712 runs at an average of 89 and a strike rate of 79.91, with three fifties and two double centuries.
Day 1 of the fifth Test saw Jaiswal turn in another commanding display, but he couldn't convert his fifty into a big score this time. The opener played out a probing new-ball spell from Jimmy Anderson and Mark Wood before laying into Shoaib Bashir.
Jaiswal plundered five fours and three sixes off the off-spinner, with the three big hits coming in the same over. He converted lengths into his hitting arc beautifully and accessed areas on both sides of the wicket.
Bashir eventually got his man, but not before Jaiswal had blitzed a half-century, one that took his series run tally beyond a whopping 700.
#1 Kuldeep Yadav weaves his magic in Ashwin's 100th Test
R Ashwin stole all the headlines in the lead-up to the fifth Test, and rightfully so. Playing his 100th Test in front of his fans and family, the veteran off-spinner picked up four wickets in the first innings to extend his stellar home record.
Before that, though, it was the Kuldeep Yadav show through and through. Returning to the venue where he made his Test debut, the left-arm wrist-spinner scythed through the England lineup, picking up five wickets in a magical spell.
Kuldeep bamboozled the opposition batters with his drift, turn and variations. His balls to dismiss Crawley and Ben Stokes were simply special, and the other three scalps weren't far behind either.
It will now be extremely tough to leave Kuldeep out of the Indian Test XI, irrespective of whether they play home or away.