Birmingham, Aug 1: India's premier spinner Ravichandran Ashwin bowled a beauty as he castled the stumps of veteran England opener Alastair Cook in the first session of the opening day of the first cricket Test against India, here.
The left-handed batsman was outplayed by the off-spinner off a ripper and walked back towards the pavilion for 13. The ball pitched on middle and turned away to knock back Cook's off-stump. Ashwin (1/13) was the only wicket-taker for India in the opening session after removing Cook in the ninth over itself.
To everyone's surprise, India captain Virat Kohli introduced Ashwin in only the seventh over of the morning, even before Mohammed Shami (0/17) and Hardik Pandya (0/6).
The move yielded result instantly when Ashwin bowled Cook in only his second over to give India the breakthrough. It was the eighth time Ashwin had dismissed the left-handed opener in Test cricket.
There wasn't much Alastair Cook could do with this absolute gem from @ashwinravi99! 🤩#KyaHogaIssBaar #ENGvIND LIVE on SONY SIX and SONY TEN 3. #SPNSports pic.twitter.com/wjz39UFNy3
— SPN- Sports (@SPNSportsIndia) August 1, 2018
Despite losing Cook early, England, however, consolidated their position and reached 83 for one at lunch. India bowled 28 overs but pacers were rendered ineffective with the new ball.
Keaton Jennings was batting on 38, while skipper Joe Root was unbeaten on 31 at the break after England won the toss and opted to bat.
Root, however, started off well and struck a few lusty boundaries to shift the momentum in his side's favour. Shami came on as a second-change bowler and bowled a tight first spell, albeit lacking enough penetration to get another wicket for India as England crossed 50 in the 16th over.
Jennings played a few pre-meditated sweeps shots against Ashwin, but he settled down soon after a nervous start to add 57 runs for the second wicket with Root.
While the hosts had named their line-up yesterday, India surprisingly left out Cheteshwar Pujara in favour of Shikhar Dhawan, with KL Rahul slated to bat at number three. India also went in with just the lone spinner in Ashwin, supporting a three-pronged pace attack.
(With inputs from PTI)