IND vs ENG: Ravichandran Ashwin’s mind games bother James Anderson on Day 2 of Vizag Test

Ravichandran Ashwin and James Anderson once again engaged in a verbal duel on Day 2 of the second Test between India and England in Vizag. The duo shares a history of verbal warfare as the veteran pacer previously condemned Ashwin’s tactic of run-out at the non-striker's end. On the morning of the second Test, Ashwin was spotted stretching his arms at the non-striker’s end, when Anderson was running in to bowl. 

Soon after that, the Indian spinner was standing very close to the wicket, which bothered Anderson as he went on to complain to the umpire about Ashwin’s antics. The veteran spinner didn’t give much importance to that as he continued to build an important partnership with Yashasvi Jaiswal. However, England pacer ultimately had the last laugh as he dismissed both Ashwin and Jaiswal later in the session. The 37-year-old got out after scoring 20 runs while Jaiswal made 209 runs.

India posted 396 runs in first innings

Yashasvi Jaiswal’s double century helped India post a respectable total on the board in the first innings of the second Test. Apart from him, no other player could capitalize on a pitch, that has a lot of assistance for the batters. Shubman Gill’s 34 is the second-highest individual total in the first innings, which is concerning as there’s a significant amount of gap between the top two run-scorers.

Meanwhile, James Anderson once again was the star with the ball, picking up three wickets at an economy of just 1.90. Debutant Shoaib Bashir and Rehan Ahmed too picked up three wickets as India posted 396 runs on the board in the first innings. At one stage, they were close to crossing the 450-run barrier but unfortunately, wickets fell from time to time, which derailed the momentum of the hosts.

They would expect to bounce back in the second innings as Kuldeep Yadav and Ravichandran Ashwin will be key for the hosts. The English batters are in good form and can be a threat to the Rohit Sharma-led side.