[Watch] India’s wicket-takers on Day 1 of 1st Test against England pick their favorite scalp from four bowled dismissals
Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel and Jasprit Bumrah shone with the ball for India on Day 1 of the first Test against England at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad on Thursday, January 25. While Ashwin and Jadeja picked up three wickets each, Axar and Bumrah shared the other four wickets between them.
In a video posted on BCCI’s official X handle following the open day’s play, the four bowlers were asked to pick their favorite wicket from four options, which featured one dismissal from each of the four - all bowled.
The first one was Axar cleaning up Jonny Bairstow with a peach that turned away from the right-handed batter and knocked the top of off stump. The second was Jadeja cleaning up Tom Hartley, the third was Ashwin knocking over Mark Wood, and the last one was Bumrah cleaning up Ben Stokes with one that seamed away sharply.
Axar’s wicket was the winner by a 3-1 margin as Bumrah, Jadeja and Ashwin all picked the left-arm spinner’s dismissal of Bairstow as their favorite. The man himself, however, chose Bumrah’s wicket of Stokes as his favorite. Watch the video below.
Thanks to an impressive all-round bowling effort, Team India restricted England to 246 in their first innings after the visitors won the toss and batted first. Opener Yashasvi Jaiswal then hammered an unbeaten 76 off 70 balls as India went to stumps at 119/1 after 23 overs.
“His fearless cricket is serving him well” - Ashwin hails Jaiswal after India dominate Day 1
Indian off-spinner Ashwin praised Jaiswal after his aggressive knock on the opening day of the first Test against England kept the visitors on the back foot.
Comparing the young batter to Rishabh Pant, the 37-year-old commented that Jaiswal has hardly put a foot wrong in Test cricket.
"He (Jaiswal) had a great time in the IPL, had a wonderful start in first-class cricket. I am quite enjoying it. I am seeing Rishabh Pant there. His fearless cricket is serving him well. Yashasvi has not put a foot wrong, he has taken to Test cricket like a fish to water," Ashwin told the host broadcaster after the end of the opening day’s play
Jaiswal struck nine fours and three sixes in his knock, dominating an opening stand of 80 with Indian skipper Rohit Sharma (24).