Indian players Jasprit Bumrah, Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja have picked their favorite dismissal from Day 1 of the ongoing first Test against England. The match between the two teams is underway at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad.
India were asked to bowl first and had a sensational outing with the ball. With the exception of Mohammed Siraj, all other players contributed wickets and helped the team bowl out the opponents for 246 runs in three sessions.
Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja picked three wickets each, while Axar Patel and Jasprit Bumrah picked two wickets each. They bowled impeccable lines and bothered the batsmen a lot with well-timed hits.
There were up to four layoffs of four players each. Axar Patel castled Jonny Bairstow, Ravindra Jadeja stripped Tom Hartley’s stumps, Ravichandran Ashwin sent Mark Wood packing and Jasprit Bumrah smashed Ben Stokes’ stumps.
After the day’s play, all players were asked about their favorite dismissal. Ravichandran Ashwin chose Axar Patel’s dismissal of Jonny Bairstow as the best, saying the following:
“It was a fantastic birth. She got that weird angle coming from the wide arc. Hitters always look to protect their pads. Jonny crossed himself a little, straightening up enough to touch the top. To reach the maximum was a dream for any bowler.”
Ravindra Jadeja also picked Axar Patel’s delivery as the best and said it changed the momentum. Jasprit Bumrah was also on the same page and said “it was a wonderful delivery and it was an important wicket at that time because they were forging a partnership.”
Axar Patel, however, chose Jasprit Bumrah’s dismissal of Ben Stokes as the best. He pointed out how the pacer moved the ball and set him up perfectly with the slower balls.
Here is the video:
4⃣ Bowlers
4⃣ Layoffs
💬 💬 Jasprit Bumrah, R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel pick their favorite
What’s your choice? #TeamIndia | #INDvENG | @Jaspritbumrah93 | @ashwinravi99 | @imjadeja | @akshar2026 | @IDFCFIRSTBank pic.twitter.com/7fObot6HGP
– BCCI (@BCCI) January 25, 2024
I was hoping one delivery would put the other away: Axar Patel on his ball against Jonny Bairstow
Axar Patel’s delivery to Jonny Bairstow was a peach and it was a dream delivery for the spinner. It was a full ball that came in after pitching at mid-stump. The batsman tried to defend the ball but did not encourage spin as the ball turned and hit the top of the stump.
Axar Patel spoke about the delivery and said that he expected to see the ball turn because the batsman had kept LBW out by playing on fourth stump. Speaking to reporters, he explained:
“I was thinking about bowling in a wicket-to-wicket line as much as possible because Bairstow had the fourth guard to avoid the LBW. So we hoped that one installment would push the other away from the end. I was bowling because some strange balls spun, some didn’t and this one spun and you could see I really enjoyed that wicket with my celebrations.”
India beat England by 246 runs and then added 119/1 in the reply. At stumps on Day 1, they were 127 runs behind. They would hope to take the big lead in the first innings.