India was under pressure as they were bundled out for 337 in the first innings on Day 4. England had a lead of 241 runs in the second innings but still they decided against enforcing the follow-on and came in to bat again. England would have been in tremendous confidence as they walked in. But Kohli had some other plans. He gave the ball to his most experienced bowler in the team, Ravi Ashwin. Ashwin also did not disappoint his captain. He picked Rory Burns on the very first ball of the second England innings.
This was the first time such a thing was being repeated in cricket. A spinner picked up a wicket on the first ball of the innings 114 years back and it was South Africa’s Bert Volger who did so. The first spinner ever to pick up a wicket off the first ball was ex-England bowler Bobby Peel in 1888. Therefore, Ashwin is the third player in history to attain the milestone.
Ravi Ashwin picked up whopping six wickets to seal the deal in the second England innings. England was restricted to 178 runs and surprisingly, the fourth innings target for India isn’t a humongous one. India now need 420 runs to win the Test match. It was an innings where Ishant Sharma also made a record of picking up 300 wickets in Tests.
India came in to bat, but lost Rohit Sharma early on in the innings. Yet another time, India fail to have a good start.