Ashwin on his success in England, Hussey feels India have best chance in Australia - Cricket News Today, August 2 2018

England v India: Specsavers 1st Test - Day One
Ashwin celebrates with Kohli

The cricketing world has been buzzing today after an exciting first day of play between India and England.

The two sides are currently taking on each other in the first Test of the five-match series taking place at Edgbaston in Birmingham. England started off extremely strong, with Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow both scoring half-centuries.

At one stage, it looked like they would cross the 400 run mark, however, after Root's dismissal, things went downhill as they ended the day on 285 with the loss of nine wickets. Ravichandran Ashwin was particularly impressive as he picked up four wickets. Shami bowled extremely well too, picking up three wickets.

Ishant Sharma and Umesh Yadav picked up one wicket each and Kohli picked up Root's wicket with an incredible direct hit.

Apart from the India-England Test, there were a lot of other incidents which made the news.

Let's take a look at the news of the day:

#1 Ashwin speaks about his success in England

As mentioned above, Ravichandran Ashwin was the star of the day as he picked up four wickets to deny the Englishmen from reaching a big total.

There was a lot of talk about his place in the side and whether he would be able to perform in the English conditions. He was up to the task and proved his critics wrong with some exemplary bowling.

It began with Cook's early dismissal. He did not stop there and went on to pick up the wickets of Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler, and Stuart Broad as well.

In an interview with bcci.tv, he opened up about what made him so lethal on Day 1.

"When I came here for County cricket last year, the one thing I realise was the speed at which spinners had to bowl here. Wickets are extremely slow, even on the first day. Even if there is bounce, if you don't get the pace right, the batsman will get a lot of time to play the same ball on the front and on the backfoot. This is something I realised very quickly."

"Even in the last 12-18 months I spend a lot of time playing club cricket. I was working on simplifying my actions a bit and make sure I can get more body into the ball, try and create something in the air and it worked really well," he said.

#2 Former Pakistan all-rounder Mushtaq Mohammad hopes Virat Kohli wins Test series against England

England v India: Specsavers 1st Test - Day One
Virat Kohli and Joe Root

Former Pakistan cricket team all-rounder Mushtaq Mohammad, who played cricket for Pakistan between March 1959 and March 1979, hopes that the Indian cricket team come out victorious against England.

Mohammad, while speaking to The Times of India, opened up about what makes Kohli so good. He also said that Kohli is that type of a player who would be "most difficult to deal with for a Pakistan captain".

"Gavaskar played in a different era and I'm not saying Tendulkar is any lesser player. But the very fact that Kohli plays all three formats so well makes him a more difficult player to stop. I hope he wins this Test series against England," he said.

#3 McGrath feels Kohli has a lot to prove in England

Australia Media Opportunity & Nets Session
Glenn McGrath

Former Australian pacer, Glenn McGrath, who is currently in India, opened up about India's chances against England in the ongoing Test series.

McGrath, who himself had tormented batsmen during his playing days, felt that the Indian captain, Virat Kohli, will have a lot to prove when he goes out to bat.

This might be due to the fact that Kohli averages a meagre 13.40 in England.

“Virat's got a lot to prove...to go out there and if he can go out and score runs in England in English conditions, he would have conquered every country and so that's the challenge for him. But India have a quality batting line up,” McGrath, who is at the MRF Pace Foundation nurturing young pacers, told Sportskeeda while speaking about India’s chances in England.

#4 Imran Khan likely to invite Kapil Dev, Sunil Gavaskar & Navjot Sidhu for Prime Ministerial swearing-in

Political Parties Campaign Ahead Of The National Election
Imran Khan

Imran Khan, who led Pakistan to World Cup success in 1992, is ready to begin his new journey as the Prime Minister of the country.

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, led by Imran Khan, won the most seats in the elections, which were held on July 25.

Having played with a number of Indian cricketers during his day, he was good friends with a few of them. If reports are to be believed, Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev and Navjot Sidhu, have been invited by Khan to attend his swearing-in ceremony.

"It felt really good to see a cricketer I had played alongside becoming Prime Minister of his own country," he had said. Another close acquaintance from India for Imran is Navjot Singh Sidhu, who also shared his joy at the news, calling him a "pure soul who led from the front", said Kapil Dev, as he congratulated his former rival on the victory.

#5 Mike Hussey feels India have their best chance to win in Australia

Mike Hussey Announces Retirement From International Cricket
Mike Hussey

Former Australian cricket team batsman Mike Hussey is in Bangalore to attend a press conference ahead of the Karnataka Premier League. While speaking to the press at the Karnataka State Cricket Association, he opened up about India's chances when they visit Australia later in the year.

He felt that India will have a great chance to achieve a series win down under for the first time.

“I am a little worried about Australia’s batting because we are missing two of our best batsmen in Smith and Warner. It is a wonderful chance for India to win its first ever Test series in Australia,” Hussey told the reporters.

“If Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins and Nathon Lyon are fit and firing, India will have to work hard for runs. Australia have an excellent bowling attack,” he said.

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Edited by Amar Anand