Team India bossed the opening day’s play in the first Test against England at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad on Thursday (January 25).
Opting to bat first, England’s innings folded for 246 in 64.3 overs. Skipper Ben Stokes waged a lone battle for the visitors, scoring 70 off 88 balls with 6 fours and 3 sixes.
For India, the spin troika of R Ashwin (3-68), Ravindra Jadeja (3-88) and Akshar Patel (2-33) ran through the English batting line-up as they shared eight scalps among them.
In reply, the Indian batters took the English bowling attack to the cleaners. Left-handed opener Yashasvi Jaiswal was particularly severe on the touring bowlers as he notched up his half-century in just 47 balls and added 80 runs for the opening wicket with skipper Rohit Sharma (24) in just 12.2 overs.
Jaiswal finished the day on 76 not out off 70 balls (9 fours and 3 sixes) while Shubman Gill stayed unbeaten on 14, propelling the hosts to 119/1 at stumps.
After the close of play, Akshar Patel addressed a press conference, where he lauded Jaiswal's aggressive approach against the England tweakers.
"We enjoyed the way Yashasvi was batting and he took on the spinners from the very first over. It was very good to unsettle them early," Akshar told reporters.
The left-arm spinner, who picked up the wickets of Jonny Bairstow and Ben Foakes, said he was just trying to complement senior partners Ashwin and Jadeja.
"I have learned a lot from seniors Ash and Jaddu bhai. I was trying to control the game from my end as they were bowling in partnership. They were taking wickets, so, I was not thinking about taking wickets," Akshar said.
"I know that if you are playing three spinners then one of them will get a lesser number of overs. They were also telling me what was happening on the wicket and what I should do. It is a privilege to bowl with them," he added.
One of the highlights of the day was Akshar Patel’s peach of a ball to get rid of Bairstow. The delivery was bowled from wide of the crease and it hit the stumps with the angle.
Reflecting on the dismissal, Akshar said: "That delivery really came off well. We were talking if it turns from there then it would be great because the odd ball was turning. Bairstow took stance on the fourth wicket to avoid the lbw."
"So, I thought of bowling at the stumps because he did cut a few shots close to the stumps. That was the plan and the one that turned from there was good and you would have seen my celebration," he explained.
In their attempt to counter the Indian spinners, the England batters employed reverse sweeps far too often and Akshar said the attacking mindset of rivals increased his chances to take wickets.
"I was talking with the captain that they were playing sweeps and reverse sweeps and we were looking where the reverse sweeps were going. So, we placed the point (fielder) a bit behind.
"We had talked about this in the team meeting and we had a plan for this. It's good that they wanted to attack and it had a chance of getting them out," he remarked.
According to Akshar Patel, the Hyderabad pitch did not have any alarming turn and it was a good effort from the Indian bowler to skittle England out for 246.
"There is spin but the wicket is slow and we know that we did well to restrict them to 246. We can adjust to it as the ball is getting slow after pitching. Yeah, it is a bit challenging as well for the batters but if you bat well then you can make runs here," he concluded.
(With PTI Inputs)
