Kuldeep Yadav turned out to be India's rescuer as the hosts waited for their first breakthrough on Day 1 of the 5th Test against England. Kuldeep got rid of opening batter Ben Duckett, who looked to go big but could only connect the ball with the thick outside edge of his bat. It was Shubman Gill who produced a fine catch running backward to help India get their first breakthrough. The brilliant catch by Gill reminded commentator Sunil Gavaskar of Rohit Sharma's dismissal in the ODI World Cup 2023 final.
Gill looked in complete control as he took the catch that sent Duckett back to the pavillion. The catch was very similar to the one Australia star Travis Head. Here's the video:
"It's never easy to catch these. Running backwards... This is reminiscent of the Rohit Sharma dismissal in the World Cup final. He was caught in the same way by Travis Head. Look at the embrace from the teammates. They know how difficult it was. His long levers made him reach out. Terrific stuff, what a cricketer," Gavaskar said on air.
After Duckett's dismissal, the duo of Ollie Pope and Zak Crawley looked to build something big, the former was dismissed by Kuldeep, with Dhruv Jurel pulling off a fine stumping effort. England was 100/2 in 25.3 overs, ending the first session.
Kuldeep (2/22) was the pick of the bowlers for India in the first session.
Earlier, England skipper Ben Stokes won the toss and elected to bat first during the fifth and final Test against India at Dharamsala's Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) stadium.
India have already won the series 3-1. England, having lost their first series under skipper Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum's leadership, are playing for their pride. Despite the series being decided, there are valuable 12 ICC World Test Championship points up for grabs. This is also the 100th Test match for Indian all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin and England batter Jonny Bairstow.
With ANI inputs