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'England betrayed everyone': R Ashwin tells India 'roll them out in first session' after Bazball replaced by 'Prankball'
Ravichandran Ashwin has urged India to bowl England out as quickly as possible, otherwise…
Experts may say that the 3rd Test between India and Lord's stands even-steven at the end of play on Day 1, but you’ve got to believe that the home team is just a tad bit ahead of the opposition. Completely ditching their Bazball style of play, the England batter took up a more restricted and composed approach, dishing out a more traditional Test match batting display. Credit to Indian bowlers to keep England on their toes, but given what Brendon McCullum's boys have achieved, going ‘slam bang, thank you ma’am’, that Joe Root, Ben Stokes and others went back to their roots added a fresh layer of excitement to this Lord’s Test.
Former India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin was pleased to see this opportunity in England and gave Root his flowers. Root, who scored a half-century in the second innings of the Leeds Test, continued his dream run against India, completing 3000 runs against the Men in Blue and one run away from completing his 8th Test century at Lord’s. Root and captain Stokes added 79 runs for the fifth wicket to help England finish at 251/4 at stumps on Day 1.
Also Read: Joe Root refuses to fall into Jasprit Bumrah's verbal trap after umpire turns down loud appeal
"It was a great day for England. Everyone believed England was going to continue with Bazball, but they betrayed everyone by playing Prankball instead. They usually score at a net run rate of 4, 4.5 an over, but today was different. England were going at three runs an over. I had previously discussed that Joe Root scoring runs is very important for the team. Commeth the man, Commeth the hour. His innings was a lesson in how Test cricket needs to be played. Root is back," Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.
'Get England out ASAP, or else…', Ashwin tells Gill
As pitches in the first two Tests have indicated, England have produced yet another belter at the Mecca of Cricket, only this time, they are batting first on it. Yet, there was plenty of swing on offer for the Indian bowlers, making run-scoring challenging for England. Having said that, Ashwin feels that as the Test match progresses, the Lord's surface will play a few tricks; hence, to avoid India being on the receiving end of it, the champion spinner has urged Shubman Gill and the team to bowl England out as quickly as possible.
“If you look at this pitch, it possesses some sub-continent tendencies. The ball usually softens up after 60 overs, but if you look at Ravindra Jadeja, one back of a length delivery hit Joe Root’s bat very low. Now, this on Day 1 at Lord’s is quite a contrast to the conditions that you expect in England. The up and bounce at Lord’s was always going to be a concern, and we saw that when Nitish Reddy picked up two wickets and also had Ben Stokes in trouble momentarily,” added Ashwin.
“There is contrasting bounce and variable pace on this pitch. If I were India, I would be telling the bowler to roll them out in the first session tomorrow. Can they keep England below 350? Because the longer England play, this surface is going to play tricks."
