Published 19:12 IST, February 24th 2021
England's batting against India reminding Virender Sehwag of Rahul Gandhi, here's why
Sehwag this time took the help of former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi to describe England's crumbling batting unit at the Narendra Modi Stadium in the 3rd Test
As Indian spinners steamrolled over England in the first innings of the third Test, former cricketer Virender Sehwag took a hilarious dig at the visitors as Root & Co. collapsed for merely 112 runs. Known for his comical tweets, Sehwag this time took the help of former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi to describe England's crumbling batting unit at the Narendra Modi Stadium in the ongoing pink-ball Test. The former explosive opener shared a popular Rahul Gandhi meme from the Congress leader's public address to describe what England batsmen felt as soon as they took the crease against Indian bowlers.
In the video shared by Sehwag, the Congress leader says, "Khatam (finished), Bye-Bye, Tata, Goodbye, Gaya (gone)."
Sehwag used the excerpt from Rahul Gandhi's speech to highlight England's collapse at the Narendra Modi Stadium where only Zak Crawley managed to notch a half-century. Big wigs Joe Root and Ben Stokes also failed to make an impact as India's spin duo of Ravichandran Ashwin and Axar Patel wreaked havoc.
2 matches, 2 fifers for Axar
Spinning magic with the pink ball at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Wednesday, Team India's spin duo of Ravichandran Ashwin and Axar Patel wrecked complete carnage in the first innings of the third Test. Continuing from where he left at the Chepauk, Axar Patel playing his second Test for India, picked his second consecutive fifer as he skittled out England's half side. Meanwhile, veteran pacer Ravichandran Ashwin continued to jolt blows from the other end as England lost 8 wickets under just 100 runs.
Playing on his home ground, Patel swung into action early as he dismissed Jonny Bairstow early in the innings for a duck. The spinner then went on to dismiss the big fish - half-centurion Zak Crawley - who was also England's highest scorer in the first innings. Patel also trapped key all-rounder Ben Stokes, bowled Jofra Archer and dismissed Stuart Broad to pick his fifer.
Both the teams seem to have read the surface differently as England have fielded three seamers whereas India have opted for the services of Jasprit Bumrah and Ishant Sharma only. Kuldeep Yadav has been dropped after the second Test while Ravichandran Ashwin and Washington Sundar have been brought in along with Axar Patel to lead the spin attack. For England, Jofra Archer has returned after missing out on the second Test due to injury whereas veteran pacers Stuart Broad and James Anderson have also returned together for the pink-ball Test.
Updated 19:12 IST, February 24th 2021