Everyone knew that the pitch of Ranchi would support the spinners and provide them with extra turns to trap the batters. But, Ravichandran Ashwin and Shoaib Bashir took it to another level as they used the ‘pitch fear’ in batters to bluff them and clinched wickets on some full-length deliveries.

Shoaib Bashir: The rookie star

When Shoaib Bashir picked the ball on Day 2, England was in a comfortable position, all thanks to Joe Root’s century. The rookie spinner took his time to understand the pitch conditions before using it to destroy India’s batting order.

He started with India’s star youngster Shubman Gill (38), who had the potential to be extremely dangerous. Without giving much time to the Indian team, Shoaib Bashir took out newcomer Rajat Patidar (17) and Ravindra Jadeja (12) in quick succession and palpable tension was visible in the Indian camp.

Then came Shoaib Bashir’s biggest wicket of the day as he dismissed India’s opener Yashasvi Jaiswal (73), who was coming from back-to-back double centuries at Vizag and Rajkot. Although his day ended with Yashasvi Jaiswal’s wicket, he was not done yet as on Day 3 and finished India’s innings with the wicket of debutant Akash Deep (9).

Ravichandran Ashwin: The spin wizard

After achieving the feat of 500 Test wickets in Rajkot, Ravichandran Ashwin had a lackluster start to the Ranchi Test as he clinched only one wicket in the first innings of England. The spinner faced intense backlash, especially after young Shoaib Bashir’s exceptional spell on the same pitch.

As India’s tail-end batters displayed the courage to narrow down England’s big lead to just 46 runs, it was time for Indian spinners to take charge, and who better than Ravichandran Ashwin to take the lead?

Ravichandran Ashwin struck within the first 5 overs as he dismissed Ben Duckett (15) and Ollie Pope (0) in back-to-back deliveries. Team India jumped into celebration, but India’s spin wizard was just starting as he soon took out the centurion of the first innings Joe Root (11).

Kuldeep Yadav (4/22) and Ravindra Jadeja (1/56) took the stage for a while and clinched some wickets at their end, but it was against Ravichandran Ashwin’s turn to finish the game for India. Ben Foakes (17), who was settling on the crease became his next target and finally Ravichandran Ashwin finished England’s innings with the wicket of James Anderson (0).

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Published: 25 Feb 2024, 06:26 PM IST