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Kuldeep Yadav’s ploy turned out to be golden as he castled Zak Crawley off the next ball.©AFP
Despite conceding a 46-run lead in the first innings, Team India managed to turn the tide against England on the third day of the ongoing fourth Test in Ranchi. India shook up England’s batting order, with Ravichandran Ashwin and Kuldeep Yadav doing the damage. Ashwin got the ball rolling with the wickets of Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope and Joe Root, after which Kuldeep caused a collapse in England’s batting. The left-arm bowler refused to follow India captain Rohit Sharma’s advice and dismissed a well-set Zak Crawley off the next ball.
In the 29th over of England’s second innings, Kuldeep was seen having a long chat with Rohit, who suggested that it would be better if he brought the fielder.
However, Kuldeep managed to convince Rohit that he should keep the fielder at the boundary fence. His ploy turned out to be golden when he castled Crawley off the next ball.
Crawley, who was batting on 60, was fooled when the ball came back in and rattled his stump. Rohit acknowledged Kuldeep’s brilliance as he hugged the player with a cheeky smile on his face.
Meanwhile, Ashwin (5/51) and Kuldeep (4/22) shared nine wickets as England were bowled out for 145 in their second innings, setting India a target of 192 runs in the final session of Day 3.
England, who resumed at 120/5 after tea, could not deny Kuldeep who continued to constantly trouble the visiting team’s batsmen while adding more wickets to his tally.
Having snatched key wickets from Zak Crawley (60) and Ben Stokes (4) in the second session, Kuldeep dismissed Tom Hartley (7) and Ollie Robinson (0) in the third session.
Ashwin had taken three wickets in quick succession to help India come back after the hosts conceded a 46-run lead in the first innings.
The oldest bowler in the line-up, Ashwin returned to the attack to complete his 35th five in Test cricket, while overtaking former captain Anil Kumble to have taken the most wickets in the format for India at home. .
(With PTI inputs)
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