The hills of Dharamsala were alive with the sound of music but not even the eclectic blend of power ballads and dad rock that pumped out of the speakers at this postcard-perfect cricket ground could soften the sense of dread among the England supporters.
As they sat there on day one of this bucket-list fifth Test, puffer jackets zipped up, beanie hats on, even with the stirring Kangra Valley bathed in sunshine, they witnessed Ben Stokes and his men turn in a grim performance; one that undermined the captain’s rebuttal of departure lounge syndrome being a concern with India already series victors.
Plenty had gone England’s way, too, not least Stokes winning the toss on a surface he felt was a “belter”. Yet with the snow-capped Himalayan peaks behind him, Kuldeep Yadav delivered a bewitching five-wicket display that, along with four for Ravichandran Ashwin on his 100th Test appearance, saw the tourists bowled out for 218 in just 57.4 overs. The nadir? An afternoon avalanche of five for eight in just 36 balls.
Consolation barely materialised before stumps either, India racing to 135 for one in 30 overs thanks to Rohit Sharma’s unbeaten 52. Shoaib Bashir snared Yashasvi Jaiswal, stumped by Ben Foakes, but not before India’s wunderkind had blasted three sixes from his opening over en route to 57 from 58 balls. When Shubman Gill slog-swept Tom Hartley’s penultimate ball of the day into the stands, India’s dominance was simply rubber-stamped.
This one-way traffic in the final session, triggered by Sharma meatily pulling Mark Wood for six, was not entirely unexpected after such a ruinous second in which England, 175 for three, went careering off the precipice. Both captains have spoken of a hard-fought series but when it comes to India’s spinners versus the English middle order – a middle order now boasting three 100-cap cricketers – it has been anything but.
Kuldeep was something to behold, it should be said, his sparkling figures of five for 72 from a 15-over spell taking him past 50 Test wickets and – as just the third left-arm wrist-spinner to the mark, in just his 12th outing – reflecting mastery of what is such a rare art. The 29-year-old allies remarkable control with drift and sharp turn, while using his googly – ie the ball that turns away the right-hander – both sparingly and to devastating effect.
There is no sentiment with it either, the wrong ’un putting a dampener on Jonny Bairstow’s induction into the 100-cap club when, having muscled his way to 29 from just 18 balls, the Yorkshireman edged it behind. This was the first of a review-burning, innings-scuttling three for none in 13 balls, Ravindra Jadeja snaring Joe Root lbw on 26 – drift offsetting turn for a straight-on delivery – and Kuldeep again trapping Stokes on the back foot for a duck lbw.
Thus Kuldeep’s hold over Stokes continued – three times in the last four innings, no less – even if Sharma had seen enough. With Hartley, a left-hander, the new man in at No 8, the Indian captain immediately swapped in Ashwin. What followed was probably not the plan, however, his mark picking out long-on with an ambitious attempt to clear the rope. When Wood poked his second ball from Ashwin to slip, England were 183 for eight.
Some semblance of resistance followed, Ben Foakes reaching tea with Bashir and chiselling 24 runs of his own. But Ashwin was not to be denied on this day of personal celebration, Foakes utterly crestfallen when an attempted sweep trickled back on to the stumps off his arm and last man Jimmy Anderson slamming his third ball to midwicket.
Rewind to the final over of the morning and England had given themselves a strong foothold in the match. Ben Duckett fell to an athletic running catch from Shubman Gill on 27 when attempting to drill Kuldeep back over his head but, fresh from a fifth 50-plus opening stand, and with 100 runs on the board, Zak Crawley was again in the groove. All he really needed was Ollie Pope to operate in his slipstream.
However, wicketkeeper Dhruv Jurel sensed what was to come, telling Kuldeep “he will step out, he will step out” in Hindi regarding the once-again impatient Pope and duly whipping off the bails for a stumping when a first pitch-perfect googly met a prophecy fulfilled. After that 196 in Hyderabad, Pope’s frenetic starts risk becoming the enduring image of his tour.
Kuldeep missed the series opener but his reputation continues to climb, not least through the type of delivery that undid Crawley on 79 after the restart. It was a wrist-spinner’s dream – albeit a mirror image for most of them – when the right-hander was teased into a drive by the wide line, only for the ball to rip back through the gate and into his stumps.
In some ways, Crawley’s luck had simply run out. During an early display of lavish swing from Jasprit Bumrah he somehow survived a wonder-ball that missed everything and a reviewed lbw on 29 thanks to umpire’s call. On 61 there was also a tickle down leg off Kuldeep that ballooned to Sarfaraz Khan via Jurel, only for Sharma to decline the review.
In between Crawley defended well, laced 11 fours and one six and, with 400 runs in the series passed, the only thing missing from his time in India has been a match-defining innings. The same cannot be said of Jaiswal, whose initial single off Wood in the reply saw him break Virat Kohli’s Indian record of 655 runs in a series against England.
Bashir’s relief at shutting the left-hander’s latest flurry was palpable but, given the collapse that preceded it, the task of preventing a 4-1 final scoreline is already a steep one.
