England vs India 2018, First Test Day 1, Stats: Root breaks world record; Ashwin joins elite list
The first day of the first Test between India and England was as well-contested and fiercely fought as was predicted. After opting to bat first, England got off to a horrible start as Ravichandran Ashwin got Alastair Cook with an inch-perfect off-spinner in the ninth over.
Skipper Joe Root (80) then stitched two crucial partnerships, that of 72 runs with Keaton Jennings (42) for the second wicket and of 104 runs with Jonny Bairstow (70) for the fourth wicket. Root's run-out by Virat Kohli, however, changed the game in India's favour and the hosts collapsed from 216/3 to 283/9.
Ashwin (25-7-60-4) was their tormentor in chief and finished the day with four wickets to his name. Mohammed Shami got two wickets while Ishant Sharma and Umesh Yadav got one apiece. The day finished with England at 285 with one wicket in hand. Sam Curran (24) and James Anderson (0) are on the crease.
Here are few of the important numbers and records broken from today's play:
1 - Joe Root became the fastest to reach 6000 Test runs in terms of days taken since debut. Root took 2058 days to reach the milestone beating Alastair Cook's record of 2168 days.
3 - Root became the third fastest Englishman to reach 6000 Test runs in terms of innings taken. He left Kevin Pietersen and Alastair Cook behind who took 128 and 131 innings respectively to reach the milestone.
3 - Root became the third youngest batsman to score 6000 Test runs. The English captain reached the milestone at 27 years and 323 days of age. The fastest to do so was Sachin Tendulkar at 26 years and 313 days and second on the list is Alastair Cook (27 years 43 days).
4 - Ashwin registered the fourth-best figures for an Indian spinner on day 1 of a Test outside Asia. Chandrasekhar (6/94), Bedi (5/55) and Kumble (5/84) have done better than him.
5 - Dawid Malan has failed to reach double figures in half of his 10 Test innings this year.
8 - Ravichandran Ashwin has dismissed Alastair Cook eight times in Test cricket, including today. The only batsman he has dismissed more than the former English captain is David Warner - nine times.
12 - The English captain has now scored a half century in each of his 12 Test matches against India. He is placed on top of the list of players who have scored a fifty in each of their matches against an opponent provided they have played at least six Tests against the said country. He has eight half-centuries in as many Test matches against South Africa as well.
47 - Since December 2013, India's spin cordon has dropped 47 and taken 36 catches off fast bowlers. They dropped another catch today, that of Keaton Jennings.
50 - Root has now scored a half-century in each of his last four Test innings against India.
67 - India have a catch success of only 67% in the spin cordon against fast bowlers since January 2015.
1000 - England became the first team to play 1000 Test matches in their history. Australia are second on the list of most Test matches played with 812, while West Ines have played 535 and India 523.
6000 - Joe Root completed 6000 runs in Test cricket today.