RAI HAS FAILED TO IMPLEMENT LODHA REFORMS, SAYS ACTING BCCI SECY
NEW DELHI:
BCCI acting secretary Amitabh Choudhary launched an attack on Committee of Administrators (CoA) chief Vinod Rai, terming him a “complete failure” in the implementation of the Lodha Committee reforms. BCCI office-bearers, especially Choudhary and treasurer Aniruddh Chaudhry, have been sidelined by CoA, which even sought their termination from the Supreme Court. Choudhary, who has not attacked on Rai till date, was no-holds-barred in his criticism after the former CAG described BCCI office-bearers as obstructionists with vested interests in recent interactions with the media. “The unfortunate fact that I conclude is that after one and half years, Mr Rai has realised apart from writing e-mails, he has not been able to do anything else,” Choudhary said in an interview.
Ishant Sharma ripped through the England batting in a sensational over either side of lunch as India pushed for victory in the first Test at Edgbaston on Friday. The tall fast bowler, whose seven-wicket haul had set up a victory at Lord’s on the previous tour in 2014, bowled with pace and extracted movement too to grab three wickets in the space of five deliveries on the third day as the visitors took control.
Ishant first left England reeling at 86/6 at lunch after removing Dawid Malan (20) and then Jonny Bairstow and Ben Stokes caught in the slip cordon with the second and fourth balls of the final over before lunch. He came back to have Jos Buttler too, caught behind by Dinesh Karthik, leaving the hosts gasping in their backyard.
England were 131 for seven after a fighting 44-run partnership between Sam Curran and Adil Rashid for the eighth wicket when bad light stopped play midway through the afternoon session. England, with a measly lead of 13 runs, were reduced to 87 for seven soon after lunch following Ashwin’s masterful spell in the morning. England were 134/7 after 44 overs.
BIRMIINGHAM:
STRIKE BOWLER
Ishant Sharma, who was steadier in the first innings, took over the strike role after Mohammed Shami failed to get through. He bowled a great length and swung the ball as cloud cover aided seam bowling in English conditions.
England batsmen though showed little fight after struggling in the first innings. Ishant had completed a miserable Test for Malan, having the England No 4 batsman also caught in the slip cordon as he ripped through the batting with four wickets falling for 17 runs.
India, who have never won at
Edgbaston in six previous Tests and chasing their first series win since 2007, were lifted by Ashwin’s beautiful spell. Ashwin built on the superb century by skipper Virat Kohli (149) on the second evening that led India’s
fightback after a sensational batting collapse. Having announced himself as a serious threat to a shaky England batting line-up filled with left-handers with a four-wicket first innings haul, he grabbed two more quick wickets