4th Test: England on top after Shoaib Bashir wrecks India in Ranchi

NEW DELHI: Shoaib Bashir dismantled India’s batting lineup, paving the way for England to establish a significant first-innings lead on the second day of the fourth Test in Ranchi.
The tall off-spinner, justifying his inclusion in the match, secured impressive figures of 4-84 on a challenging pitch where the ball frequently behaved unpredictably.India’s in-form opener Yashasvi Jaiswal (73), fell victim to one such delivery, and by the end of the day, the hosts, leading the five-match series 2-1, found themselves trailing England by 134 runs.
A late resurgence came from Dhruv Jurel (30) and Kuldeep Yadav (17), who resiliently forged a 42-run partnership for the unbroken eighth wicket.
As it happened| Scorecard
In the earlier stages, Joe Root spearheaded a remarkable recovery for England from a challenging position at 112-5, contributing an unbeaten 122 before the team was eventually dismissed for 353.
The lower-order batsman Ollie Robinson swiftly reached his maiden Test fifty, showcasing his counter-attacking prowess with a six and nine fours during his innings of 58.
Ravindra Jadeja (4-67) removed Robinson and Bashir in the same over and went on to dismiss James Anderson to claim the final English wicket.
Root remained unbeaten after his 31st test hundred, a masterly knock studded with 10 fours.
India wobbled early in their reply after skipper Rohit Sharma, having made two, edged Anderson to be caught behind.
Jaiswal was fluent at the other end, though, and the nearest England got to dismissing him before his half-century was when Ben Foakes grabbed an edge. Replays, however, confirmed the ball had touched ground before the wicketkeeper collected it.
Shubman Gill (38) got off to a decent start but could not capitalise on it, falling lbw to Bashir.
Rajat Patidar (17) fell in the same manner to the spinner, while Jadeja (12) was snared at short leg off Bashir’s bowling.
Jaiswal, the leading scorer of the series, passed the 50-mark for the fourth time in seven innings, which include two double hundreds.
The left-hander, however, fell just when he was looking good for another hundred and his exit put England in charge.
Jaiswal rocked bat wanting to play Bashir through the off-side but the ball stayed low and hit the toe-end of his bat before hitting the stumps.
India were reeling at 161-5 when left-arm spinner Tom Hartley twisted the knife dismissing Sarfaraz Khan and Ravichandran Ashwin.
Jurel and Kuldeep, however, frustrated England with their dour rearguard action.
(With inputs from Reuters)