CRICKET
Shocking! England set to start their first innings at 5/0, complete details revealed
England Cricket Team have got a huge shot in the arm before the start of their 1st innings. Ben Stokes and his side will start their innings at 5/0 even without facing a ball. The reason behind this is when Ravichandran Ashwin was spotted running in the danger area.
India had got prior warnings for the same on the first day of the 3rd Test in Rajkot. On spotting the veteran Indian bowler commit the offence umpire Joel Wilson took action. Five penalty runs were awarded to the visiting side.
Ravichandran Ashwin could be seen arguing with the umpire pleading his case. The umpire though stood steadfast with his decision as Ashwin could be seen shaking his head. Considering the Baz-Ball techniques of England this is a huge head start for the visitors.
Team India penalized by umpire Joel Wilson
This is not the first time the Indian side had to undergo the five-run penalty. Way back in 2016, New Zealand had begun 5 for no loss during a Test vs India. On that occasion, Ravindra Jadeja had run onto the pitch and the umpire had given him the warning.
According to the rules, the umpires can give the batting three warnings for running on the pitch. The next violation will bring about five penalty runs which will be given to the bowling side.
Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja came out to bat on the 2nd day hoping to build a solid score. The breakthrough arrived in the 4th over of the day when Yadav was out for 4 to give Anderson his 696th Test wicket.
An over later it was Joe Root who got the big wicket of the day for his side. Batting on 112, Ravindra Jadeja offered a simple return catch to Joe Root as India lost their 7th wicket. Dhruv Jurel played a fine uppercut to score his first six in Test cricket.
Veteran Ravichandran Ashwin played a few delightful shots to go past 20 runs. Two batters have a huge task on their hands to get India past a formidable total. The Rajkot pitch is known to be a batting delight and any total under 400 will be sub-par.