AHMEDABAD: Pacer Ishant Sharma became the second India fast bowler to play 100 Test matches when he bowled the first over of the pink-ball Test against England at the Narendra Modi Stadium here on Wednesday.
Ishant also became the fourth Indian bowler to achieve the glorious milestone. The fast bowler, who is now behind former skipper Kapil Dev as the only pacer to reach the feat, is also the eleventh Indian cricketer to feature in 100 Test matches. Former skipper Anil Kumble (132), Kapil (131), and spinner Harbhajan Singh (103) are the only bowlers other than Ishant to feature in 100 Tests for India. Ishant started the proceedings for India in the third Test. The pacer dismissed Dom Sibley in his second over as the batsman departed without troubling the scorers after nicking the ball to Rohit Sharma at second slip.
Zak Crawley hit some timely boundaries and stitched a brief 25-run stand with Jonny Bairstow. But Axar Patel struck with his first ball trapping Bairstow in front of the stumps as England recorded their second duck of the match. Earlier, England won the toss and opted to bat first against India in the third Test. The hosts made two changes as Jasprit Bumrah came in for Mohammed Siraj while Washington Sundar came in for Kuldeep Yadav. England made four changes to the team that played in the second Test in Chennai.
India playing XI: Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli(c), Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant(w), Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ishant Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah England playing XI: Dominic Sibley, Zak Crawley, Jonny Bairstow, Joe Root(c), Ben Stokes, Ollie Pope, Ben Foakes(w), Jofra Archer, Jack Leach, Stuart Broad, James Anderson.
