Joe Root became the first England captain in 38 years to pick a five-wicket haul in Test matches after taking a staggering 5/8 against India in the first innings of the day-night Test at Ahmedabad. This was Root’s maiden five-wicket haul in first-class cricket and also his best-ever Test figures surpassing the 4/87 he took against South Africa last year at Port Elizabeth. Root is also the first England captain to pick a five-wicket haul in Asia and also the first spinner from England to take five wickets in an innings in pink-ball Test matches. India vs England 3rd Test 2021 Day 2 Live Score Updates.

When Root trapped Jasprit Bumrah to end India’s first innings, he also became the first England captain since Bob Willis in 1983 against New Zealand to take five wickets in a Test match. Willis had picked 5/35 against New Zealand at Leeds and since then no England skipper has managed to take a five-for before Root achieved the feat against India at the Narendra Modi Stadium. From 99/3 to 145/10! India Suffer Batting Collapse As Joe Root Scalps a Five-Wicket Haul, Twitterati React.

Joe Root First England Captain in 38 Years to Pick a Five-Wicket Haul

Root’s scalps included all three left-handed Indian batsmen as well as Ravichandran Ashwin and Jasprit Bumrah. The England skipper started with a first-ball wicket and picked five in just 6.2 overs. Root removed Rishabh Pant with his first ball with the Indian wicketkeeper-batsman edging an outside off-stump delivery to Ben Foakes behind. Washington Sundar was then clean-bowled in the first ball of his third over and two balls later Axar Patel hit the ball straight to Dominic Sibley at short cover.

Ashwin, who had scored a century in the previous Test, looked good during 32-ball 17 runs stay before top-edging another Root delivery to Zak Crawley at deep mid-wicket. Ashwin was out trying to slog sweep. Root then completed his maiden five-for with the wicket of Bumrah.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 25, 2021 05:47 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).