Twitter reacts to ‘Magician’ Ashwin castling Ben Stokes to thunderous applause

SportsCafe Desk

BySportsCafe Desk, SportsCafe Editor

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There is so much only a batsman can do on these wickets - where Ravichandran Ashwin turns his god-mode on and completely ends the batsmen in their own tracks. Today was just another day in that realm, as Ben Stokes was undone by a brilliant delivery, which saw drift and turn for Ashwin.

After losing the toss in the first Test, India were rewarded with a toss win on a track that was assured to turn square from the second day of play. It lived up to its bill on the first day, when the ball was turning square for Moeen Ali and Jack Leach. So when India had 329 runs on board, they were confident that the total was always going to suffice, especially in conditions that were tailor-made for their bowlers.

When Ravichandran Ashwin stepped up with the ball in his hand, the ball started turning square, drifting wild and tendering no apologies to the troubled batsmen. Dominic Sibley was the first of the lot to get dismissed before Dan Lawrence joined the opener in the hut. And then, Ben Stokes walked in, their clash was all over the place yet again. No words exchanged between the two but the tension was in the air.

Drifting into the middle stump, Ashwin got one to turn, which he was confident that it hit Stokes right in front. However, India lost the review for that. But after lunch, when he drifted it, even more, the ball turned quite a way, past the turning blade before crashing into the stump. Stokes was stunned, Ashwin was delighted but Chepauk was left ecstatic, as they hailed Ashwin’s heroics yet again as their folk-tale.

Here is how Twitter reacted to the dismissal:

Ben Stoke's nightmare

Ashwin's bunny

True

laught0
astonishment0
sadness0
heart0
like0
dislike0

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