Going by the domination of the tweakers in the first and only Test between India and Australia that was played at the HPCA Stadium in Dharamsala in 2017, Rohit Sharma & Co will be looking to spin it to win it against England this time round
India’s R Ashwin (left) celebrates the dismissal of Australia’s Glenn Maxwell on Day Three of the fourth Test at the HPCA Stadium, Dharamsala, in March 2017. Pic/Getty Images
Before Thursday’s India v England Test in Dharamsala, the Dhauladhar mountain range witnessed just one Test – in 2017. And if that fixture is any indication, it looks like spin will dominate the proceedings this time too.
In the absence of an injured Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane’s Indian team beat Australia by eight wickets seven seasons ago (March 25 to 28, 2017).
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Batting first, the visitors were bowled out for 300 with Kuldeep Yadav taking 4-68. Australia skipper Steven Smith’s 111 turned out to be the only century of the match while David Warner (56) and Matthew Wade (57) got half-centuries. In response, India posted 332, thanks mainly to half-centuries by Ravindra Jadeja (63), KL Rahul (60) and Cheteshwar Pujara (57), but once again it was a spinner who dominated the show. Australian offie Nathan Lyon picked up an impressive fifer (5-92). The visitors then folded up for a mere 137 with India spinners Ravindra Jadeja (3-24) and Kuldeep (3-29) doing most of the damage. The Indians thereafter easily chased down the victory target of 106 with eight wickets to spare.
Thirty-two wickets fell in this encounter, but considering there were two runs outs, out of 30 wickets picked by bowlers, as many as 18 went to spinners.
While Kuldeep will be looking to repeat his 2017 heroics, Ashwin and Jadeja, who are joint leaders in the wicket-taking charts in this series (17 scalps) along with two others bowlers—England’s left-arm spinner Tom Hartley and India pacer Jasprit Bumrah—will also be keen to pick up wickets galore.
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