'He knew he will not get a long spell so he did it quickly': Gavaskar reckons India pacer 'did his job perfectly'
India vs England: India had England struggling at 39/4 at the lunch interval on Day 2 of the second Test.
Former captain Sunil Gavaskar lauded India for their performance with the ball on Day 2 of the second Test between against England in Chennai on Sunday. After getting bowled out for 329, India reduced England to 39/4 at the lunch interval with spinners R Ashwin and Axar Patel sharing three wickets. However, it was Ishant Sharma's opening burst with the new ball that Gavaskar was extremely impressed with, which saw the fast bowler dismiss England opening batsman Rory Burns third ball of the innings, out LBW.
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"It's important for the new ball bowler to make sure that he doesn't leak runs on a pitch like this which is made for spinners because you will use the new ball bowlers and a senior one like Ishant Sharma for at least a few overs. And Ishant did his job absolutely perfectly. He kept a tight line and length even when the right handers were batting. The length he was hitting, the way he was getting the ball to move, away," Gavaskar said on the Star Sports Network during the lunch interval.
"He knew he will not get a long spell so he did it quickly. Got that wicket because a left-hander, right-hander at the crease is always a bit difficult for spinner and the captain to get the field setting right. So good early wicket that and it meant that the spinners would come and bowl hard with the new ball, like Ashwin was bowling from the other end," Gavaskar added.
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After Ishant had removed Burns for a duck, spinners Ashwin and Axar took over. Ashwin snared Dom Sibley, out caught at leg slip by Virat Kohli, followed by the Axar dismissing England captain Joe Root for his maiden Test wicket. Root was out sweeping which left England at 23/3 and even though it looked like Dan Lawrence and Ben Stokes would take the team safely through to the end of the session, Ashwin had the former out bat pad to help India grab a fourth wicket the over before lunch.
