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Live Report: India vs England, 5th Test, Dharamsala - Ashwin takes five, India win
By Andrew MillerIndia win 4-1
That scoreline is devastatingly one-sided but at one point, right at the mid-point, England were about to tip the scales. They went to stumps at the end of day two in Rajkot 207 for 2 after only 35 overs. India's total of 445 seemed well within reach. Peak Bazball had arrived. Yet, when fronting up to the press after being hit round the park, R Ashwin, the 100-Test veteran who had seen it all and done it all, came out and said everything is fine. And so it was.
India won that game by 434 runs.
It's probably too simplistic to draw a line from there to here, especially in a series that has ebbed and flowed so dramatically, with most of its star attractions missing. Virat Kohli and Mohammed Shami, who might well walk into any all-time India Test team, played no part here. For England, a man that they hope to build their future around - Harry Brook - had to withdraw due to personal reasons. Tom Hartley began by being hit for six and looking like cannon fodder. Four days later, he was spinning India into the Hyderabad dirt.
One moment did not bring us here. There was at least one more. Lets go back to Ranchi.
With the series 2-1, England had another big chance, when they were 176 runs ahead, with only two Indian wickets standing in the first innings. But the back-up to the back-up of India's first-choice wicketkeeper decided to stand up and show what he had. Dhruv Jurel, in his second Test match, battling a rising tide, made 90. With him for support was Kuldeep Yadav, who has been sensational, that day with bat, and all through with ball. He had to settle for the odd Test here and there but now he has made it very very difficult for anybody to drop him.
This is why India are so hard to beat at home. They out-skill opponents. They out-last opponents. They don't panic. They trust in their process. And when none of that works, they just throw the ball to their once-in-a-lifetime fast bowling genius. Oh, and if this series has shown anything, its that even those on the fringes of their Test team have inculcated those attributes. Yashasvi Jaiswal, for example, very nearly overtook Sunil Gavaskar's legendary tally of 774 - the highest by an Indian batter in a single Test series. Shubman Gill, back when he was in the middle of a lean run, was the most conscientious netter. At times, it felt like he'd want to stay there 24x7 until he'd fixed whatever was bothering him. India will savour this. They will really savour this.
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Bumrah follows Kapil
19 wickets for Jasprit Bumrah in this series (and he missed a Test). Not since Kapil Dev's 29 strikes in six Tests against WI in 1983 has an Indian pace bowler had such a rich haul in a home Test series
Also, in the last 35 years, only one seamer has taken more wickets in a Test series in India than Bumrah in this series - Jason Gillespie with 20 in 2004.
These stats brought to you by Sampath Bandarupalli.
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Rooooooooooooot!
He began the series looking like the sore thumb, struggling to calibrate his batting beteween the needs of his own game and the needs of the team around him. But since then, with support from the dressing room to play the way he likes, this Joe Root is looking a lot more like the Joe Root of old. He's been playing late and close to the body. He's picked up on the fuller balls, and the ones on his pads, very very early. And there's also been those cheeky grins as India went for DRS and lost their reviews. Pity his best is coming in a situation where he can't influence the result.
A control percentage of 91% signals in a stay that's lasted nearly 100 balls - nearly three times as much as the next best England batter in this innings - suggests another crucial thing: the competence of his defensive technique and his confidence in it.
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Bumrah joins the party!
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Tom Hartley has done plenty right in his maiden Test series, not least with the bat where his frequent displays of lower-order pluck have confirmed him as the likeliest of the spinners to claim a consistent berth when the attention turns back to the English season. But after digging in alongside Joe Root for 20 hard-grafted runs, he had no answer to the magnificent Jasprit Bumrah, the on-field captain with Rohit Sharma nursing a stiff back.
Bumrah's second delivery of his new spell snaked back into the left-hander's pads, trapping him so plumb in front that there wasn't even any point in a speculative review. And then, two balls after that, out comes that pinpoint yorker, to blast Mark Wood out for a duck, via another lbw - this time upheld by the third umpire after Wood opted for the second opinion. Got any plans for this afternoon?
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Five wickets for Ashwin!
Drip, drip, slog! Ashwin marks his 100th Test with a five-wicket haul, and he has four remaining shots at a commemorative ten-for too, as Ben Foakes is lured into the sort of rush of blood that has characterised his team-mates' displays, but not usually his own.
It had all started relatively serenely after lunch. Fifteen minutes of casual accumulation alongside Joe Root, until suddenly there was a ball tossed up outside his eyeline, and Foakes kneeled into a mighty yahoo across the line. This one bit and gripped more than many, however, and ripped back through the gate to send England's keeper on his way for 8. At 113 for 6, the end is very, very nigh.
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Stokes is bowled on the stroke of lunch!
Another stride to the pitch that wasn't half as convincing as his mechanics made it out to be, another fling of the head to the heavens, another cheap dismissal in an increasingly desperate series with the bat. Ben Stokes showed with the ball on Friday that he's still got a magic touch, but he's mislaid it in critical fashion with the bat on this tour, as R Ashwin closes out the morning with his fourth wicket.
He took some tap from Bairstow in the course of his 8.5 overs, but with Kuldeep seeing him off, back Ashwin came with lunch looming, and he needed just five balls to remake his mark, wriggling an arm-ball through the gate to bag his man for the 13th time in Tests. Stokes finishes the series with 199 runs at 19.90, and at 103 for 5, a deficit of 156, a crushing innings defeat is on the cards this afternoon.
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Kuldeep strikes, Bairstow falls
Oh Jonny.
Could there have been any more fitting way for Bairstow to mark his 100th Test? A hundred would have been nice, of course, but a stunningly aggressive 39 from 31 balls, featuring three fours, three sixes and the fleeting thought that this might be one of his extraordinary days ... that epitomises the hope and fragility that has accompanied his Test endeavours.
While it lasted, it was thrilling to watch, particularly the manner in which he took down England's oppressor Ashwin with a series of smoked sixes across the line. That assault, however, merely hastened the introduction of the first-innings wrecker, Kuldeep Yadav. In his first over, Bairstow fails to anticipate the sharpness of Kuldeep's turn as he plays right back on the stumps, and is pinned in front of leg stump. He reviews, but in vain ... another umpire's call on the leg bail. And off he goes for, tellingly, his fourth score in the 30s, and his highest score of the series.
At least he's in good company. The last top six batter to end a 10-plus innings Test series without a fifty was Virat Kohli in 2014.
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Pope plops a catch to square leg
One worldy of an innings ... the rest, not so much. Ollie Pope's startlingly good 196 at Hyderabad seems a distant memory now, as he bows out for the series with another frenetic knock of 19 from 23, an innings characterised by his skittish inability to settle against spin. His exit is extremely tame, a spooned sweep, top-edged to square leg, to gift-wrap a third wicket for Ashwin.
There's an obscure branch of cricket statistics called #RootMaths, which stems from Root's displays in the 2013 Ashes, which was fairly fallow if you ignored the majesty of his matchwinning 180 at Lord's. The same, with even more knobs on, now applies to Pope. Take away that 196, and he's managed 119 runs at 13.22 in his remaining nine innings.
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England deep in the mire
Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley have been two of England's saving graces in a pretty underwhelming series with the bat, as they've passed 45 in seven of their nine previous opening partnerships. Today, however - faced with a Himalayan deficit and a champion spinner in R Ashwin, both men have succumbed extremely meekly.
Duckett is the first to go, with a chaotic charge down the pitch to his fifth ball, having been spooked by Ashwin's extra grip from his previous delivery. Without any real faith in his defence, he goes for all-out attack instead, and is beaten and bowled by that trademark devious drop that Ashwin can impart, with the ball looping under the toe of his bat and into the off stump.
And then Crawley, with more than 400 runs in the series and double figures on each previous visit, signs off with a 16-ball duck... with Ashwin again the man to end his misery, courtesy of an alert take in the pocket by Sarfaraz Khan, as Crawley closes the face for a clip off the hip and steers it straight to short leg.
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Anderson scales new heights for England
James Anderson scaled new heights in the foothills of the Himalayas on Saturday morning, as he became the first seam bowler to claim 700 Test wickets, against India in Dharamsala.
The moment came in the fourth over of the third morning, as Anderson induced Kuldeep Yadav into a thin edge to the keeper for 30, to help his team bowl India out for 477, a first-innings deficit of 259.
As if the sheer scale of his achievement wasn't already clear, it was put into context a few moments later, when Shoaib Bashir extracted Jasprit Bumrah for 20 to close out the innings with his fifth wicket. Bashir hadn't even been born when Anderson claimed his first, Zimbabwe's Mark Vermeulen, at Lord's in May 2003.
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India end the day with 255 lead
Well the end result of the day's play has been more or less down the expected route, but we took a circuitous route to get there. Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill scored graceful centuries, but then Ben Stokes, bowling for the first time this series, and James Anderson got them both with special deliveries. Sarfaraz Khan and Devdutt Padikkal then scored fifties, but didn't quite slam the door shut on England. However, Kuldeep Yadav and Jasprit Bumrah have now added an unbeaten 45 to take India to a lead of 255. They still have two wickets in hand.
We leave you with a teaser from the end-of-the-day report. Thanks for joining us today. See you tomorrow.
India took the scenic route to a match-dominating position in the Dharamsala Test, batting throughout the day to amass a lead of 255 over England with two wickets still standing. There were hundreds for Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill, fifties for Sarfaraz Khan and the debutant Devdutt Padikkal, as the India top order all contributed to posting an imposing total in the shadow of the Dhauladhars. Even some Ben Stokes magic with the ball could not turn the tide of England’s fortunes. Stokes claimed the wicket of Rohit with his first delivery of the series, having not bowled competitively since the second Test of last year’s Ashes. A sharply seaming ball that hit Rohit’s off stump as he resumed his innings after the lunch break not only ended a 171-run stand for the second wicket but added to the list of what-might-have-beens for England on this tour. England’s attack plugged away manfully in placid conditions, Shoaib Bashir impressing once again with a four-wicket haul. He provided both durability and cutting edge – his 44-over stint matching the first innings in Ranchi for his longest in first-class cricket. Had Zak Crawley and Stokes not put down chances at either end of the day, Bashir might have been able celebrate a second five-for in only his third Test.
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Duck in 100th Test
This is from my colleague, Sampath Bandarupalli. R Ashwin has joined a select band to have made a duck in their 100th Test. He can perhaps have a chat to the opposition coach about their membership once this game is over...
Dilip Vengsarkar
Allan Border
Courtney Walsh
Mark Taylor
Stephen Fleming
Alastair Cook
Brendon McCullum
Cheteshwar Pujara
R Ashwin
Allan Border
Courtney Walsh
Mark Taylor
Stephen Fleming
Alastair Cook
Brendon McCullum
Cheteshwar Pujara
R Ashwin
India raise 450
Some sensible batting from Kuldeep Yadav and Jasprit Bumrah has kept England at bay after that little burst from the spinners. Kuldeep, of course, batted for almost two hours in a vital stand with Jurel in the previous Test and isn't going to miss out on some more middle practice. Bumrah doesn't look in the mood to do anything rash (yet) and the lead ticks up further.
Brings three...!
Two in the over for Hartley. India have lost 3 for 1 in the space of nine balls. The contest speeding up with about an hour left in the day.
One brings two
Hartley gets his first wicket of the match, Jadeja trapped lbw playing back. The batter reviewed but ball-tracking had it crashing into leg stump. Drinks are on the field. This innings could end pretty swiftly this evening, allowing India to get on with the pursuit of victory.
Lead swells... but Jurel departs
Another steady partnership appeared to be developing for India, Ravindra Jadeja and Dhruv Jurel pushing the lead past 200 - only for Jurel to then hole out to long-on and gift Bashir a fourth. Bashir has put in another shift in only his third Test (and ninth first-class) appearance and that may help to keep spirits up despite the massive hole England find themselves in.
Bashir gets another!
Ripper of a ball from Shoaib Bashir, who hits the top of off stump with Padikkal looking to defend from the crease. As my colleague Nagraj Gollapudi notes, R Ashwin would have been proud of that dismissal. There'll be no hundred for the debutant, though he's already made a fine impression. England chip out their fourth wicket of the day.
They couldn't, could they?
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400 up for India
A single tickled into the leg side by Padikkal takes India to 400. England have Root and Bashir operating in tandem after tea, with the new batter Ravindra Jadeja looking to get himself set. Already the lead looks a formidable one for India.
Fifty on debut for Padikkal!
He gets there with an ice-cool loft down the ground for six. A special moment for Devdutt Padikkal, who becomes the fifth member of India's top five to reach 50 in this innings - the fourth time India have managed that in Tests, and first against England. Low-key celebration from Padikkal, who looks like he means business, as KK has written below.
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Bashir gets Sarfaraz!
Another wicket straight after the break, this time Sarfaraz steering the first ball of the evening session gently to slip! Bashir nods his head emphatically in response to that gift. Very casual from Sarfaraz, who took his time to get in earlier. Bashir gets a bit of extra bounce with the hard, new ball, it spins and cramps him as he looks to cut, and a top edge plops into Joe Root's hands. An immediate lift for England.
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Padikkal looking the business
He had raced to 30 off 32 at one point, and he’s batting on 44 off 77 now, writes Karthik Krishnaswamy. Devdutt Padikkal has played some cracking drives in his first Test innings, and he’s sure to have reminded you at various points of *insert tall, languid left-hander of your choice*.
England will have noted that he tends to camp in his crease quite a bit; James Anderson bowled to him with a catching point and a catching cover point at one stage, hoping for the uppish, sliced drive with the head not quite on top of the ball, and we’ll likely see more of that tactic after tea too. He’s also played predominantly off the back foot against spin, even to fullish lengths, giving the impression that he isn’t quite using the reach he has to put the pressure back on the bowler.
But all quibbling aside, he’s looked really comfortable out there, as a control percentage of 92 would indicate, and his innings has been more proof of the endless well that India’s batting reserves appear to be.
Tea
India 376 for 3 (Sarfaraz 56*, Padikkal 44*) lead England 218 by 158 runs
Ben Stokes took a wicket with his first ball of the series as England dismissed India's two centurions immediately after lunch in Dharamsala, before another healthy stand between Sarfaraz Khan and the debutant Devdutt Padikkal cemented India's advantage.
Stokes, whose last bowl in any form of the game came against Australia at Lord's in June, sent back Rohit Sharma with a delivery that seamed away to hit off stump. That ended a stand of 171 for the second wicket between Rohit and Shubman Gill, but the latter departed in the next over as James Anderson found some reverse to knock off out of the ground and move on to 699 Test wickets.
The lead at that stage was 61, with England sensing an opportunity after a wicketless morning session. But Padikkal, batting at No. 4, found the boundary with regularity while Sarfaraz bedded in. Having moved watchfully to 9 off 30 balls, Sarfaraz then kicked up through the gears with a flurry of attacking shots to raises his third Test fifty, as India's lead extended beyond 150.
Half-century for Sarfaraz
England opt to take the new ball as soon as it becomes available, Shoaib Bashir called back into the attack... but nothing is stopping Sarfaraz Khan right now, as he twice launches into sweeps that bring up his fifty from 55 balls. That's after a careful start against the reversing ball that saw him 9 from 30.
Third half-century in as many Tests for Sarfaraz. Thumps his chest and blows a kiss as the crowd stands to applaud.
Sar-frazzled
Wood hasn't bowled badly in this spell but he has taken some tap from Sarfaraz, who adds consecutive boundaries with a flick off the pads followed by a booming pull into the stands. He then gets off strike and leaves Padikkal to deal with a Wood jaffa from round the wicket and then bends wickedly past the outside edge. In the last four overs, Padikkal has scored three while Sarfaraz has raced past him while adding 31.
Sarfaraz got rizz
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He was a little circumspect to start with but Sarfaraz Khan has started to unfurl some of the shots that made him one to watch in the IPL a few years back. From 9 off 30, he proceeded to hit four boundaries in seven balls from Hartley and Wood. Against the latter, he first stood tall to launch over mid-off, then sat back and played a cheeky-chappy ramp to deep third, prompting a rare display of frustration from England's happy-go-lucky fast bowler.
This fourth-wicket pair have just four caps between them but have grabbed the momentum back after England's double-strike post-lunch.
Fifty stand
The Padikkal-Sarfaraz partnership has steadied things for India, with both Stokes and Anderson seen off. England have switched to bowling Tom Hartley and Mark Wood, so far without success. The lead is now up into three figures, with Sarfaraz pulling and sweeping Hartley for boundaries to bring up the fifty stand from 76 deliveries.
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Stokes scripts comeback tale
Hello Devdutt Padikkal
India's latest debutant - they have had five this series - has taken little time to show his qualities, striking seven fours to move quickly to 30 from 32. The first and third went off the outside edge past the slips but there have been some nice shots, too, including a square drive and back-foot punch. Three came in the space of five balls off Anderson, one uppish but safe through cover. England won't mind Padikkal flirting with a few outside off but the runs are coming as India's lead approaches three figures.
All happening...
Stokes in the thick of it already, having not bowled for 251 days. In his third over he drops a low return chance off Sarfaraz - he thumps the turf and starts to walk back to his mark, only to then hear the no-ball siren. So it wouldn't have counted. But the old ball seems to be reversing for Stokes and Anderson, who saw Padikkal edge wide of slip in the previous over. England trailing by 77 but sniffing around for further rewards with the ball.
Anderson now, England go bang-bang!
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Superb bit of bowling from Anderson and India have lost both centurions immediately after lunch. Gill beaten by one that reverse back inside his flat-footed push to pluck out off stump. Anderson goes on to 699 Test wickets and England have a spring in their step at last. Sarfaraz Khan walks out at No. 5 for India, joining the debutant Devdutt Padikkal.
Stokes strikes!
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...with his first ball of the series! Would you believe it?! Rohit Sharma is beaten by an absolute peach that hits off stump two-thirds of the way up. Barely a celebration from Stokes. England have the breakthrough after a morning of toil, and all it needed was for the captain to bring himself into the attack. Fine knock from Rohit but he heads back for a second lunch. That delivery moved 2.5 degrees off the surface!
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Stokes to bowl?
“Ben Stokes is going to bowl this session,” reports Vithushan Ehantharajah from the ground. “He's just come out ahead of everyone else and bowled a few balls to Jeetan Patel.” That’s at least something for England fans to get around after a tough morning. Stokes’ last outing with the ball came during the Lord’s Test in June, since which he has battled knee trouble that required surgery before Christmas.
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Lunch
India 264 for 1 (Rohit 102*, Gill 101*) lead England 218 by 46 runs
Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill both cruised to hundreds during the morning in Dharamsala as India tightened their grip on the fifth and final Test. England were wicketless during the session and created few openings with the ball, leaving the home side eyeing up a big lead.
The second-wicket pair signalled their intent by adding 50 to the overnight scorecard within the first 10 overs of play. Gill's fifty came up from 64 balls as he closed the gap on his captain, who batted on unruffled after seeing an inside edge off Shoaib Bashir evade Zak Crawley at leg slip. India's second consecutive hundred partnership was raised when Rohit flat-batted Wood through the off side and they moved past England's total of 218 shortly after.
Rohit was the first to reach his century, flicking Hartley through the leg side with lunch approaching. Two balls later, Gill slog-swept Bashir for four to bring up three figures, too. With the Himalayas in the background, England were already facing a mountain to climb.
Twin tons for India
Rohit is first to three figures. India's captain notches his second hundred of the series - and 12th overall - with a clip through midwicket off Hartley. In the next over, he hands the strike back to Gill, who slog-sweeps Bashir to bring up a century of his own. Second of the series for him, too, and fourth in Tests. India's scorecard is beginning to look as imposing as the backdrop to this ground.
The race to 100
With lunch approaching, the main question in Dharamsala - aside from how much chana masala to have - is which India batter will get to his hundred first. Shubman Gill just skipped down to launch Shoaib Bashir high over the leg side for his third six of the morning session, taking him to within three runs of his skipper. Rohit Sharma is on 90 but has been outscored by the younger man. Will it be twin peaks for India before the interval?
Thoughts drifting to the IPL...?
If you think you've already seen this one before, then why not take a break from the Test and read our exclusive interview with Moeen Ali. Having retired from Tests (for a second time) following the Ashes, he is now focusing all his energies on the T20 circuit and England's World Cup defence later this year.
Scores level
England and Wood are trying a barrage of the short stuff, which tells you about how their attempts to find seam and swing this morning have gone. A misfield from Tom Hartley at fine leg gifts Rohit four more and takes India to 218 for 1. Scores level inside the first session on day two. *Gulp*
(Another) hundred stand
Rohit steps to leg and slugs Wood's short stuff through extra cover for another boundary to bring up the century partnership. Pretty good foundation being laid by India's top order here...
Drinks - India thirrrsty
India are intent on taking the scenic route with the bat. The second-wicket pairing of Rohit and Gill added 67 from 15 overs during the first hour, in untroubled fashion. England created just one chance, Crawley missing an inside edge from Rohit at leg slip. The deficit is 16 at the drinks break and already it looks a long way back for the tourists in this Test.
Top work from the top three
3 This is only the third time since 2011 that India's top three have all passed 50 in the same innings - and the first since the Afghanistan Test at Bengaluru in 2018
Runs Gill-ore
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The 12th over of the morning sums up how things have gone for England so far. Wood finds some inswing - possibly reverse - to rap Gill on the pads, and then induces a thick edge through vacant second slip having set the field for short stuff. The bumper does indeed follow, a 147kph/91mph heat-seaker that has Gill hopping in the crease. But he then responds by sending a rasping back-foot drive wide of deep third to bring up 400 runs in the series.
India are 197 for 1 and closing in on England's first-innings score with plenty of oxygen left in the tank.
Fifty for Gill!
Reached with a controlled pull off Wood. India have added 50 this morning at a little under a run a ball.
Rohit gets a life
Zak Crawley misses what looked a fairly straightforward take at leg slip. Would have been pretty much a replay of Bashir's maiden Test wicket, when he had Rohit caught tickling one off his pads in Visakhapatnam. Crawley saw it late but didn't manage to get a hand to the ball, which then skittered away for four.
India have added 36 runs in seven overs so far this morning, and Mark Wood is into the attack for England. Make that 44 runs, as Gill cuts and drives successive boundaries from the third and fourth balls of the over...
Rohit, Gill step on the pedal
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I think we have a clear sense of India's approach. After a maiden from Bashir and a couple of singles off Anderson's opening over, Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill have unleashed. Rohit twice launched Bashir down the ground from the first two balls of the 33rd over, before Gill walked at Anderson to hit him impudently back over his head for the second six of the morning. A crashing cut for four, bringing up the 50 stand, was then followed by the ball disappearing to the rope for leg byes. Looks like it might be the bats doing the swinging this morning.
Jimmy time
Can England get the ball yapping this morning? It's crisp and clear at the HPCA Stadium, but if anyone can find swing here you'd think it's James Anderson. He has opened the bowling alongside Shoaib Bashir as England look to make inroads before India overhaul them. Two more wickets needed for 700, remember...
Who's for a hike?
Morning all. Like a team of climbers who forgot to pack their thermals, England were left horribly exposed on day one in Dharamsala. After weathering the initial steep incline, the batters as a collective lost their footing - and that total of 218 looks even more of a molehill in the wake of India's route march in response. Today, the plan is quite simple for Rohit Sharma and his men: keep on climbing. They don't need a map to know where they're going. Bat once and bat big. Hopefully England have come with better supplies or it's going to be a long old slog up the mountain in pursuit. Let's get strapped in.
A dream day for India comes to an end
If you had asked India what they wished for when they had lost the toss, they might just have asked you, 'Can we bowl England out and then come within 100 of their total for not much damage?"
India have indeed bowled England out for 218, and have responded with a dominant 135 for 1 in less than a session. This is sheer dominance thanks largely to Kuldeep Yadav's wizardry in his 5 for 72. You might not believe us but England were quite lucky they didn't lose early wickets when the ball was swinging and seaming around. India took the last seven wickets for just 43 runs. Playing hid 100th Test, R Ashwin chipped in with four wickets to end the innings.
And then Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rohit Sharma made a big hole in the deficit with aggressive batting. Jaiswal fell prey to his own aggression, but not before he set the record for most runs by an India batter in a series against England. He also became only the second Indian to score 700 in a series.
Rohit and Shubman Gill looked threatening too. England will come tomorrow hoping for similar help for the ball as India enjoyed this morning. Mind you they will have to bowl with a 30-over-old ball. So a mountain to climb for them.
Thanks for joining us today. See you tomorrow. Same place, same time.
Fifty for Rohit too
This innings has been one of stops and starts. Rohit Sharma began fluently, then had a period of some attempted big shots. And now, especially with Jaiswal getting out, Rohit has settled into an even rhtythm, getting to his fifty in just 77 balls. India trail by less than 100.
Fifty and out for Jaiswal
It was all so serene for India's boy wonder! His latest fifty came up in 56 balls, as Bashir dragged one down to be cuffed away behind point. India's hundred came up in the same strokes, and when his follow-up slog-sweep raced through midwicket for another boundary, India looked capable of drawing level by the close. Instead, he galloped past his next ball from Bashir to be stumped for 57. His series haul stalls at 712, with a maximum of one innings remaining. What a campaign he has had either way!
1000 Test runs for Jaiswal!
He brings up this latest landmark with a fierce slog-sweep off Shoaib Bashir, in only his ninth Test match. It's a staggeringly composed arrival in the big-time, and with 688 runs in the series by the evening drinks break, he's close to emulating Sunil Gavaskar's legendary haul of 774 in the West Indies in 1970-71, the most by an Indian batter in a single series.
Here comes Jaiswal!
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He'd been keeping a low profile in the opening exchanges of this innings, but no longer! From a sedate 6 from 27 balls, Yashasvi Jaiswal springs onto the offensive as Shoaib Bashir's offbreaks enter the attack, with a volley of three sixes in his first over, making it an extraordinary 26 for the series. England's pain might only just be beginning in this match.
Never mind this series, only Brendon McCullum has managed more in a calendar year... he made 33 in 2014. We're only a week into March!
At the other end, England burn yet another review, this time with the ball, as Rohit swings through a slog-sweep off Hartley, and doesn't get the edge to the keeper that Ben Foakes thinks he's heard. Rohit capitalises with a clip for four in the same over, to bring up India's 50.
Rohit survives a life ... sort of
That's what DRS is for... never mind the endless arguments about umpire's call. It's the howlers that no longer get upheld that make it all worthwhile. Such as this leg-side strangle off James Anderson, with Rohit Sharma on 20. Up goes Joel Wilson's finger, but Rohit is laughing as he reviews. Sure enough, his bat is nowhere near the action, a thin flick off the thigh creates the noise. As you were.
Rohit swings for the bleachers
A probing start from Anderson at one end, and typically energetic wheels from Mark Wood at the other, but Rohit Sharma in particular is eager to take on the latter. Most particularly with a hoist over fine leg for six as he rocks inside a short ball to lift it over the rope.
At the other end, the man of the moment Yashasvi Jaiswal is taking a more measured approach to his innings, but in nudging his first of two singles, he's gone past Virat Kohli's tally of 655 runs in 2016-17, the most by an Indian batter in a series against England.
Over to India's batters
How will they respond on a pitch that offered plenty swing for the quicks, and signs of early turn? And how might Devdutt Padikkal be feeling? Here's an insight from his cap presentation earlier...
Ashwin seals the innings
Well, it was good for England's hopes while it lasted. A slog-sweep from Foakes draws a hopeful appeal for lbw, but it's immaterial, as the ball deflects off the pad, onto the gloves and down into the wicket in the slowest of slow deaths. He's gone for 24 as Ashwin claims his third, and so, almost, are England.
James Anderson survives a first-ball lbw appeal thanks to an inside-edge, but two balls later he wipes across the line and holes out to midwicket. 218 all out it is. The collapse from 175 for 3 - 7 for 43 all told - was as comprehensive as a Himalayan avalanche.
Shall we have another look at the ball-by-ball collapse? Go on then...
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The 200 comes up after tea
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Signs of life from England's batting straight after the break, as Ben Foakes takes the aggressive approach to R Ashwin - a notable shift from his entrenched approach in Ranchi, where the score went nowhere while he was trying to eke some life out of the tail. Two fours in the over make it 12 runs, and with Jasprit Bumrah proving leaky in his 13th over too, including two no-balls and two more fours - one of them a deft late cut from Shoaib Bashir - 24 runs have come from 10 balls already.
That's tea, and this is the tale of the tape
From 175 for 3 when Jonny Bairstow fell, to 194 for 8... oops
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Ashwin grabs two in an over!
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Tom Hartley's honk over wide long-on has served him well all series long, but today he's misjudged his shot just a fraction, and paid the price! R Ashwin extracts some overspin to confound Hartley's alignment, and the debutant Padikkal is lurking inside the rope to complete his first meaningful act as a Test cricketer. From 100 for 1 moments before lunch, and 175 for 3 when Bairstow was getting busy, England are adrift at 183 for 7 now. This isn't quite what England had in mind after winning a very handy toss.
Make that 183 for 8, as Wood pokes tamely outside off to an over-spinner from Ashwin, and snicks off to slip! He's struck twice in three balls in his 100th Test. And the end is very much nigh.
It could have been 184 for 9 at the end of Jadeja's next over, but Jurel can't hold onto a thick snick from Shoaib Bashir.
Stokes slumps, Kuldeep soars
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Three wickets, no runs. Three reviews burned in the process. And Kuldeep Yadav has five wickets on the first day of the match! Ben Stokes has no answer to a massive wrong'un, ripping into his pads as he plays once again from deep in his crease, and swishes across the line in a reactive approach to Kuldeep's wiles. It's missing nothing, despite his optimistic appeal for a second opinion. For England, this contest is going south at a rate of knots now.
England in freefall as Root departs
Amid all the drama at the other end, we've barely mentioned Joe Root's innings... which in ordinary circumstances tends to be a sign that he's ticking along very nicely, thank you. But this time, his stealthy advance to 26 from 56 balls comes to an abrupt end, courtesy of a classic two-card trick from Ravindra Jadeja. A big ripper beats his outside edge, then in comes the slider, skidding into the knee-roll as Root thrusts down the line of the ball. He reviews, just in the nick of time, but might wish he hadn't. This is as plumb as Rod Tucker's initial verdict had implied. And England are in some strife all of a sudden at 175 for 5, and with two men on 0.
Incidentally, they were playing "Freefallin'" over the PA system earlier ... part of a banging 1980s school-disco style set of tunes from the stadium DJ. Tom Hartley and Shoaib Bashir were nodding along very happily at that stage, oblivious of what was looming...
Bairstow bashing dangerously ... too dangerously
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Is he here for a long time or a good time? Jonny Bairstow has come out blazing in his 100th Test appearance, and already it's getting rowdy. Kuldeep Yadav could in theory have had his fourth of the innings at the end of his 13th over, but Bairstow's smashed drive back through the line arrived so hard and fast he barely had time to wrap his fingers round the chance. In the same over, Bairstow popped a leading edge back down the pitch then slammed a flat straight six through the line before rocking back for a cut to the edge of the point boundary.
Another six over deep midwicket in Kuldeep's next over takes him past 6000 Test runs, and it's clear that his method today is to double down on length balls in his slot. Buckle up!
EDIT: We have our answer... he was here for a good time. In the same over, Bairstow lashes into another drive, this time outside his eyeline, and there's a palpable nick to the keeper. For some reason he reviews, with conviction rather than out of hope, perhaps thinking he's scuffed the ground. But nope, that's Kuldeep's fourth, and his 50th in Tests too.
Crawley falls after another life!
It's been a fine innings from Crawley, but there's no way to pretend it's been chanceless. Another opportunity goes begging for India, this time with Crawley on 78 and facing up to Ravindra Jadeja's second delivery. It's in the slot for a drive, but the chance scuffs back down the pitch at a tough but catchable height, only for the bowler to parry it with one hand above his head.
But, it doesn't matter in the end. Because one over and one run later, back comes Kuldeep with another magnificent dismissal. Oodles of air from over the wicket, dipping on a teasing length outside off, and ripping back through the gate as Crawley climbs through another drive. He's lived by that stroke today, and ultimately he dies by it. Still no hundred in a fine but unfulfilled series - instead it's his third 70, after scores of 76 and 73 in Visag, and his fourth fifty overall. And out comes Jonny Bairstow, for his 100th Test, and with England in need of a good stand to make this start count.
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Another milestone for Crawley
402 runs in the series for Crawley
Crawley keeps pushing for the runs as Jasprit Bumrah returns to the attack, not coincidentally with Joe Root at the crease and in his sights. Crawley opens the face to guide Bumrah down through deep third for his 12th boundary of the innings, to pass 400 for the series - second only to the out-of-sight Jaiswal on 655.
There's a minor moment of comedy in the same over, as Dhruv Jurel appeals vociferously for a strangle down the leg-side, but Sarfaraz - recently denied a catch at short leg - gives a very animated shrug of ambivalence when asked for his opinion. It's an entirely appropriate response too. Replays show that the noise that Jurel heard was a flick off Crawley's pad.
Crawley survives a catch at bat-pad!
A potentially huge moment from the second delivery after lunch. Kuldeep Yadav, with Ollie Pope's wicket already in the over, fires another left-arm legbreak into Zak Crawley's hip. The ball deflects off Dhruv Jurel's gloves down the legside and pops up into Sarfaraz Khan's hands at short leg, and he is absolutely convinced he's heard an inside-edge! Rohit Sharma can't be persuaded to review it, though, and Jurel seems to have the casting vote. The big screen soon confirms the tickle of bat, however, and it could have been 101 for 3, with Crawley gone for 61...
Kuldeep is settling into a magnificent spell either way, and soon afterwards he rips a huge turner through Joe Root's defences, and over his stumps. Dicey times for England, who surely have to make this start count for them.
Pope runs past a straight one!
Lunch England 100 for 2 (Crawley 61*) vs India
Kuldeep has his second of the session, and once again, Ollie Pope's skittishness is his downfall! On 11, he rushes out of the crease to clip one through the leg-side, but is playing for the ball that turns into his pads. This one is the googly, skidding straight on and into Dhruv Jurel's gloves. That will be lunch, and India go to the break with a huge fillip!
Zak Crawley, however, is unmoved at the break, on 61 not out, having launched the first six of the match clean down the ground off Ashwin in the penultimate over of the session. That late breakthrough aside, England will be satisfied with their morning's work, having survived a torrid examination in swinging conditions. They were 112 for 5 at the same stage in Ranchi, and it could have been very similar here had Bumrah got stuck in.
That dismissal, incidentally, puts Pope at the top of a very eclectic list ... Sampath has crunched the numbers for us.
Another fifty for Crawley
381 at 47.62 in nine innings. Four fifties. Crawley's stats for this India tour
Another languid drive down the ground for four off Kuldeep Yadav, and Zak Crawley eases through to his fourth half-century of the series. This latest effort has come from a perfectly brisk 64 balls, with nine fours, the majority of them caressed through the off-side as he continues to use his long reach to superb effect. He's close to Joe Root's feat in 2016-17 of five fifty-plus scores on a tour of India. Is today the day for that elusive century?
India's decision to back Kuldeep over Akash Deep's third-seamer option looks like being the correct one, all the same. His wiles, allied to Ashwin's probing at the other end, has kept India in the hunt for wickets even as the runs keep flowing in England's preferred style. Crawley had to endure another review for lbw as Kuldeep ripped one into his pads... HawkEye suggested the ball was missing leg by a distance, but Kuldeep's reaction suggested it had been somewhat tighter than that.
Duckett falls in Kuldeep's first over
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R Ashwin, in his 100th Test, is the first of India's spinners to enter the attack, shortly after drinks in the 15th over. Almost immediately, Ben Duckett ducks into a scoop for four over his shoulder, as he makes it plain he won't be dying wondering against the slow bowlers, as had been the case with his tentative departure against Ashwin in Ranchi.
Unfortunately for Duckett and England, that approach proves to be his undoing when Kuldeep enters the attack three overs later. After a firm punch down the ground for four, Duckett climbs through the googly with a swipe over the leg-side, but gets a steepling leading edge for Shubman Gill to cling on to a fabulous catch, running back from cover. The opening stand falls shortly after the fifty mark is reached once again, and India are on the board.
Old hands on standby for sub fielding duties
Ben Stokes' successful call at the toss has perhaps helped to spare England's coaching staff from an unlikely return to playing duties, after both Marcus Trescothick and Paul Collingwood were named as substitute fielders for the fifth Test.
The two assistant coaches were included in the official list submitted to the ICC, following the illness that caused Ollie Robinson to remain back at the team hotel for the first day's play. Rehan Ahmed and Jack Leach have already flown home, reducing the available players to 14, and with Shoaib Bashir also under the weather despite being selected, that bench strength could have been tested had England been asked to field first.
Trescothick and Collingwood were among the finest fielders of their generation during their playing careers. Collingwood took 96 catches in 68 Test appearances, and Trescothick 95 in 76, placing them 12th and 13th respectively among non-wicketkeepers in England's Test history. They had been put through their paces during a staff versus players catching competitionon the eve of the match.
Umpire's call goes Crawley's way
He's had some tight ones in this series, and here's another marginal call, but on this occasion it goes in England's favour. Once again the ball is zeroing in on Zak Crawley's leg bail as Mohammad Siraj shapes the ball back into his pads. But umpire Joel Wilson says no, and HawkEye shows that the ball would indeed have been clipping leg. There were two sounds which might have influenced the decision, but it was front pad onto back.
Crawley was on 29 at the time, having just laced yet another sumptuous drive through the covers, as England reach 47 for 0 at drinks, the seventh time in the sereies they've reached 45 or more. They've only once gone past 55 though, and haven't yet reached three figures. So clearly room to build on this start.
Bumrah's starting to make the ball talk
Jasprit Bumrah's fourth over of the morning contains once of the deliveries of the year, an absolute seed to Zak Crawley that shapes in at his pads to lure a clip across the line, before jagging and climbing wickedly off the seam to skim over the top of the off bail. Crawley and the slips are dumbfounded by what they've just witnessed. The pitch is just beginning to warm up as the lacquer comes off the new ball, and there's more bounce on evidence one ball later, as Crawley stabs a somewhat chancy boundary down through the gully to keep England moving.
At the other end, Ben Duckett is enduring a tricky morning against the swinging ball, with his renowned desire to play at every delivery keeping the bowlers very interested. Siraj in particular has a phalanx of close catchers in front of square on the leg side, for those pokes in the air when he tightens his line into the pads. So far they haven't paid off, but one or two deliveries have flown close to hand.
Nevertheless, England's openers keep chalking up the runs, albeit with sizeable slices of luck including two leading edges in consecutive balls for Crawley off Bumrah, as he and Duckett look to keep attacking through the danger.
The average swing in the first 10 overs today: 2.4 degrees. In the first 10 overs of all other Tests: under one degree.
Early impressions as England bat first
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Early impressions after three overs... there's an abundance of swing on offer, as was anticipated in the cloudy, chilly conditions, but the bounce in the surface is, so far, less pronounced than was promised... though having said that, Jasprit Bumrah jags an absolute jaffa past Ben Duckett's splice in his second over, so there's life in there somewhere.
So far this morning, the running has been made by Zak Crawley, with a flick for three off his pads against Bumrah, and a crunching cover-drive for four as Mohammad Siraj over-pitches. There are no beanies in evidence in the slip cordon (where Jadeja is making a rare appearance, with Shubman Gill nursing a sore finger), so it's not quite County Championship vibes out there, but it's not far off. Puffa jackets to the fore in the England dressing-room.
Padikkal to debut, England bat first
First blood to England as Ben Stokes calls correctly and chooses to bat first on a chilly morning, on a pitch that Nick Knight, on the commentary feed, has described as a "belter".
"Looking at the wicket, if you were in England on a morning like this, you'd have a bat," Stokes says. "If you look at the results of the last few months you could not come away with what you want, we'd like to be in a better position. But this is another opportunity to represent your country."
Prior to the toss, Jonny Bairstow was handed a commemorative cap for his 100th Test appearance. Joe Root did the presentation honours, with Bairstow's mother Janet, sister Becky, partner Megan and son all alongside him.
"Jonny is one of our best-ever all-format players. Great to share the moment with his family," Stokes says.
Rohit Sharma admits he too would have batted first. "Another opportunity to finish the series on a high. It looks a good pitch, a bit hard so some good bounce that we've not yet seen in this series."
On R Ashwin's 100th Test, he adds: "Ash has been a real stalwart of Indian cricket. Such a proud moment for him, his nation and the family. We will be rooting for him to do the magic."
Devdutt Padikkal has been handed his cap, so will be making his Test debut in place of the under-performing Rajat Patidar, who was actually not available for selection after being struck on his left ankle during India's practice session on the eve of the game. Meanwhile Bumrah returns for Akash Deep. Three spinners it is.
R Ashwin has also received a cap to commemorate his 100th Test. His ceremony took place after the toss, with Rahul Dravid - a team-mate on debut, and now his coach - doing the honours. Ashwin's wife and his daughters were present for the moment, but his parents sadly were not - as we know, his mother fell ill during the third Test so was not well enough to travel.
England Z Crawley, BM Duckett, OJ Pope, JE Root, JM Bairstow, BA Stokes (capt), BT Foakes (wk), TW Hartley, MA Wood, Shoaib Bashir, JM Anderson
India YBK Jaiswal, RG Sharma (capt), Shubman Gill, D Padikkal, RA Jadeja, SN Khan, DC Jurel (wk), R Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, JJ Bumrah
Back under starter's orders in Dharamsala
Welcome to ESPNcricinfo's live blog from the fifth Test between India and England in Dharamsala. It could have been the setting for the ultimate series showdown, and for two days in Ranchi, we seemed odds-on to be looking at a 2-2 series scoreline. But India stretched their legs in the closing stages of the contest, through the peerless spin wiles of R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav on the one hand, and through the nerveless rookie knowhow of Dhruv Jurel on the other, whose first-innings 90 dragged his side out of a major hole, before sealing the contest with a superbly composed 39 not out on the final afternoon.
And so, what should we expect at the fifth time of asking? Are England a broken team after three consecutive defeats, each of which seemed more dispiriting than the last, even as the margins between the sides became all the tighter? Or can England's uncompromisingly laissez-faire attitude to pressure and punishment drills allow them to regroup with clear minds and carte blanche to go again? For six of the squad, albeit just three of the starting XI, a visit to the Dalai Lama will doubtless have enhanced that zen-like approach.
For India, however, there’s no reason for any let-up. For starters, there’s the occasion of Ashwin’s 100th Test to inspire them (a landmark he’ll be sharing with England’s Jonny Bairstow), then there’s the incentive for Yashasvi Jaiswal to turn a monumental series into an all-time-great, Gavaskar-in-the-West-Indies-style leviathan. He’s already level with Virat Kohli's haul of 655 runs in 2016-17, the most in a series against England… what, realistically, is his limit now?
Then there’s the return of Jasprit Bumrah, a man who produced an all-timer of a performance to square the series in Visakhapatnam and whose hold over Joe Root has been a fundamental reason for India’s 3-1 lead. And, quite frankly, there’s the chance to rub England’s noses in it a bit, a notion that Rohit Sharma didn’t shy away from on the eve of the Test, with his latest digs about the B-word, and well, what is it exactly? Perhaps, over the next five days, England can serve up a reminder of just why they got the world talking so much in the first place.
The toss will be coming up at 9am IST, with play set to begin at 9.30am. In the meantime, here's some required reading to keep you busy, starting with the match preview by yours truly.
Here's Karthik Krishnaswamy with the dilemma that India, presumably, have worked out by now... three spinners or three seamers, which will it be?
And here's the lowdown on this week's caps centurions. Vithushan Ehantharajah considers the emotional rollercoaster that has propelled Jonny Bairstow to his 100th England appearance.
And here's Ashwin in his own words as he prepares to play his own 100th Test. Sidharth Monga sat down with him on the eve of the occasion.
And Sampath Bandarupalli crunches the numbers of Test cricket's most enduring performers.