This was the best I have seen Ravichandran Ashwin bowling abroad: Harbhajan Singh

Ravichandran Ashwin was arguably India’s stand out bowler in the opening day of the first Test between England and the visiting team. He was introduced inside the first ten overs and the decision paid dividends as he castled Alastair Cook with a ripper of a delivery. Thereafter, he triggered a mini-collapse in the final session of the day and finished with figures of 25-7-60-4.

The Tamil Nadu-born tweaker nipped out Jos Buttler, Ben Stokes, and Stuart Broad to help his team clinch the ascendancy. Previously, he played only a couple of Tests on English soil where he managed to pick up only three wickets. The 31-year old tweaker would now be hoping to pick up a five-wicket-haul by picking up the last English wicket on the second day.

India had a great day after that run out from Virat Kohli

Meanwhile, Harbhajan Singh, who is currently serving his stint as a commentator for Sky Sports, hailed Ashwin for his magnificent display with the leather.“Ashwin bowled well today and hit the right line.  He was one who got India back in the game. It was great to see him delivering the most when the team needed him.

This was the best I have seen him bowling in abroad. The conditions were not favourable to spinners but taking those four key wickets – three among them were the wickets of Buttler, Stokes and Cook was stupendous,” Harbhajan was quoted as saying by Xtra Time.

India, at one stage, found themselves in an unwanted loop when Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow marched along after piling on a stand of 104 runs in pretty quick time. However, Virat Kohli churned out a masterful throw that led to Joe Root’s run-out. Thereafter, the Three Lions crawled to 285/9 in 88 overs. Harbhajan also praised Kohli and put forth the batsmen’s responsibility to carry on the good work by the bowlers.

“India had a great day after that run out from Virat Kohli. England was on course to build a huge first innings total, so you wanted a moment of brilliance on field. It was an outstanding effort from Kohli to get Root run out. The onus now lies on the batsmen and if they bat well I am sure they will have a very good chance of winning this test match,” he added.

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