The sound of music filled the hills of Dharamsala, but the power ballads and dad rock that poured from the speakers at this picture-perfect cricket ground couldn’t take away the sensation of dread that pervaded the England supporters.
On the first day of this epic fifth Test, with their beanie hats on and puffer jackets zip-locked, they watched as Ben Stokes and his team produced a dismal performance that contradicted the captain’s argument that departure lounge syndrome shouldn’t matter because India had already won the series.
England had also won many things, not the least of which was Stokes’s toss victory on what he considered to be a “belter” surface. Nevertheless, Kuldeep Yadav, with the snow-capped peaks of the Himalayas in the background, produced an enchanting five-wicket performance that, when combined with four wickets from Ravichandran Ashwin in his 100th Test match, saw the tourists dismissed for 218 in just 57.4 overs. the lowest point? A five-for-eight afternoon avalanche in just thirty-six balls.
There was hardly any solace before stumping, as Rohit Sharma’s undefeated 52 helped India reach 135 for one in 30 overs. Ben Foakes trapped Yashasvi Jaiswal, but not before the teenage sensation from India hit three sixes in his opening over to reach 57 off 58 balls. India’s supremacy was simply rubber-stamped when Shubman Gill slog-swept Tom Hartley’s penultimate ball of the day into the stands.
After England, 175 for 3, went careering off the precipice in the second session, it was not totally surprising that there was one-way traffic in the final one, which was started by Sharma meatily plucking Mark Wood for six. Although both captains have mentioned a hard-fought series, the Indian spinners’ performance against the English middle order, which now includes three players with 100 caps, has been anything but that.
It is fair to say that Kuldeep was impressive, as his brilliant figures of five for 72 from a 15-over spell propelled him past 50 Test wickets and, in just his 12th appearance, made him the third left-arm wrist-spinner to reach that milestone. This demonstrated his mastery of an extremely uncommon talent. The 29-year-old combines incredible control with a fast turn and drift, and he uses his googly—the ball that deflects the right-hander—sparingly but devastatingly.
There’s also little sentiment attached to it, as the wrong guy derailed Jonny Bairstow’s entry into the 100-cap club by edging it behind after he had pushed himself to 29 off only 18 balls. This was the first of a review-burning, innings-scuttling three for none in 13 balls. Kuldeep again trapped Stokes on the back foot for a duck leg before wicket, then Ravindra Jadeja caught Joe Root lbw on 26 as he drifted off-course for a straight-on delivery.
Even though Sharma had had enough, Kuldeep’s hold over Stokes persisted—three times in the last four innings, no less. Upon the arrival of Hartley, a left-hander, at number eight, the Indian skipper promptly substituted Ashwin. What transpired was most likely not what was intended, but he went all out to clear the rope by marking someone on the long run. England were 183 for eight when Wood gave Ashwin’s second ball a poke, causing it to drop.
After that, there was some semblance of resistance when Ben Foakes met Bashir for tea and scored 24 runs of his own. On this day of personal celebration, however, Ashwin was not to be defeated. Foakes was left completely stunned when an attempted sweep bounced off his arm and onto the stumps, and Jimmy Anderson, the final man, clouted his third delivery to midwicket.
When we go back to the morning’s last over, England have established a solid lead in the game. On 27, while trying to drive Kuldeep back over his head, Ben Duckett was caught by Shubman Gill’s athletic running catch. However, after five opening stands of fifty or more runs, and with a hundred runs already scored, Zak Crawley was back in the groove. Really, all he needed was Ollie Pope to follow him about.
Nevertheless, wicketkeeper Dhruv Jurel understood what was about to happen and informed Kuldeep in Hindi that “he will step out, he will step out” in reference to the restless Pope once more. He then properly removed the bails for a stumping after a first pitch-perfect googly met a fulfilled prophecy. Following that 196 in Hyderabad, Pope ran the possibility of his frantic starts becoming the tour’s most memorable feature.
Despite missing the first game of the series, Kuldeep’s stature is growing, in part because of the kind of delivery that brought Crawley down on run 79 following the restart. The wide line enticed the right-hander into a drive, but the ball tore back through the gate and into his stumps. It was a wrist-spinner’s dream, although a mirror image for most of them.
Crawley’s luck had, in a sense, run out. Jasprit Bumrah gave a spectacular show of swing throughout his early innings. He managed to survive a marvel ball that missed everything and a reviewed leg before wicket on 29 because of the umpire’s call. A tickle-down leg from Kuldeep on number 61 also blasted to Sarfaraz Khan via Jurel, but Sharma turned down the review.
With 400 runs scored throughout the series, Crawley played excellent defense in between, hitting one six and eleven fours. The only thing he hasn’t played during his time in India is a game-winning innings. That cannot be said of Jaiswal, who broke Virat Kohli’s Indian record of 655 runs in a series versus England with his first-ball single off Wood in the reply.
Although Bashir was relieved to stop the left-hander’s most recent barrage, the task of averting a 4-1 final scoreline is already difficult in light of the collapse that came before it.
