India in trouble as England set record target of 420

India were left with the herculean task of chasing a world record 420 after England refused to declare in an unfocussed second essay, cut short by Ravichandran Ashwin’s brilliance on a sharply turning fourth day strip in the opening Test on Monday.

At stumps, India were 39/1, requiring another 381 runs to set a new record and take a 1-0 lead in the four-match series. The previous best is 418, chased by West Indies against Australia in 2003.

https://twitter.com/ICC/status/1358741877009174530

Relishing bowling on a responsive pitch, the seasoned Ashwin returned excellent figures of 6/61 to snap England’s second innings at 178 after the home team conceded a massive first-innings lead of 241 runs.

India in trouble before final action:

With opener Rohit Sharma (12) back in the hut, Shubman Gill (15) and Cheteshwar Pujara (12) will begin the proceedings for India. On the fifth and final day at the MA Chidambaram pitch, which has started to play tricks.

India would have been in a bigger hole had it not been for a seventh-wicket partnership of 80 runs between newcomer Washington Sundar (85) and Ashwin. In addition, who also contributed a 31 with the bat before picking his career’s 28th five-wicket haul.

But despite the duo’s best efforts, the hosts still fell way short of the follow-on target after being bowled out for 337. India resumed the day at 257 for six.

While Ashwin did an admirable job, India captain Virat Kohli may have missed a trick or two by not trying out Washington’s off-breaks when left-arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem was leaking runs, including overstepping on a few occasions and adding to his first innings no balls.

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When India came out to bat again, left-arm spinner Jack Leach bowled Rohit with a peach of delivery that landed on the leg-stump before hitting the off-stump, the turn leaving the home team with plenty to worry about going into the final day’s play.

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