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The mutual respect that star Indian spinners Kuldeep Yadav and Ravichandran Ashwin had for each other was on display after the end of England's innings on Day 1 of the ongoing Test in Dharamsala on Thursday, March 7.
Kuldeep was the pick of the Indian bowlers with figures of 5/72. Generally, the bowler who picks up a five-wicket haul gets to keep the match ball. However, with Ashwin playing his 100th Test and having picked up four wickets, Kuldeep passed the ball to the veteran off-spinner and asked him to lead the team off the field.
Ravichandran Ashwin, on the other hand, did not accept it as he felt Kuldeep Yadav rightfully deserved to keep the ball and lead the team off the field.
Mohammed Siraj handed the ball to Ashwin, but the latter once again gave it back to Kuldeep and pushed him ahead, eventually convincing the left-arm wrist-spinner to lead the team off the field. Here's the video of the heartfelt interaction:
Kuldeep and Ashwin picked up nine wickets between them, while Ravindra Jadeja also contributed with a massive scalp of Joe Root to put India in pole position in the Test on Day 1. England have been bundled out for just 218, losing their last seven wickets for 43 runs.
Kuldeep Yadav & Ravichandran Ashwin's quality was too much for England to handle
It seemed a great pitch to bat on and it looked like England had won a pretty crucial toss. The openers weathered the storm by negotiating the opening spell of Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj.
However, just when it looked like they would make the most of a solid start and grind the opposition, Kuldeep Yadav proved to be the point of difference. He picked up five out of the top six England wickets and massively dented their chances of getting to a good total.
Ashwin in his 100th Test, showed all the experience to adapt to the conditions and pick up the final four wickets, ensuring the lower order didn't contribute much. The momentum seems to have gone into India's batting innings as Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal are well past their half-century opening stand (80/0 after 18 overs) at the time of writing.
