India ended day one with advantage in the first Test of the five-match series against England which got underway on January 25, 2024, in Hyderabad.
England captain Ben Stokes won the toss and chose to bat first. He also top-scored with 70 as India bowled England out for 246 in 64.3 overs. The other scorers for England were Jonny Bairstow (37), Ben Duckett (35) and Joe Root (29).
For India, Ravindra Jadeja and R Ashwin took 3 wickets apiece, while Akshar Patel and Jasprit Bumrah took two each.
In a video released by the BCCI, all four wicket-takers were talking about their favorite ones and Ashwin, Jadeja, and Bumrah decided to pick Akshar's wicket of Bairstow as their favorite.
Ashwin said that it was a dream delivery for any bowler and explained how the left-arm spinner was able to get the wicket bowling from a weird angle.
"I think Akshar Patel to Jonny Bairstow was a fantastic delivery. He got this weird angle coming from a wide arc. The batters are looking to protect their pads. I think Jonny came across it a little bit and it straightened enough to hit the top of off. That's the dream for any bowler," said Ashwin.
Jadeja felt that Akshar's wicket of Bairstow changed the momentum of the England innings.
"I will go with Akshar Patel (getting Bairstow) because that ball has changed the momentum of the innings," said Jadeja.
Bumrah lauded Akshar for his dismissal of Bairstow and called it a 'typical' spinner's delivery.
"I think Akshar took an important wicket because, at that time, they were going through a good partnership. It was a peach of delivery. A typical spinner's delivery," said Bumrah.
However, when Akshar was asked to pick his favorite dismissal, he chose Jasprit Bumrah bamboozling England captain Ben Stokes and clean bowling him.
"I pick Bumrah's wicket of Stokes. I saw it in the replay also, he had bowled two slower deliveries and then bowled a quick outswinger. I think that was a very good delivery, he was trying to step out and hit and Bumrah outplayed him," said Akshar.
Here is the video:
On the other hand, India ended day one on 119/1 with Yashasvi Jaiswal unbeaten on 76 and Shubman Gill on 14. Rohit Sharma was the only wicket to fall for 24 runs.
