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Siraj's Sensational Sliding Catch Sends Crawley Packing; India Back On Top

image-lrssu0v7Crawley got dusted by Ashwin's spin (AP)

After the initial onslaught, the Indian side crawled their way back into the game with three wickets in quick succession, with Zak Crawley being the latest victim of an Indian lethal spin attack.

England unleashed its bazball intent from ball one as Crawley attacked the pacers to club consecutive boundaries. Within the first hour of the Hyderabad Test, the visitors added 50 runs to their total, thus putting India under tense pressure.

However, skipper Rohit Sharma wasted no time to assess the conditions and summoned the spin attack. After Ravindra Jadeja was brought into the attack, Sharma quickly placed Ravichandran Ashwin from the other end.

The spin duo controlled the flow of runs, and the pressure got the better of the English openers. Ashwin drew the first blood by removing dangerous Ben Duckett, and Jadeja followed his cue by dismissing Ollie Pope two overs later.

While India finally managed to get back into the contest, Ashwin's day was just getting started.

In the 16th over, Crawley attempted a drive towards mid-off. However, a sharp Siraj leaned forward for the catch and rolled over before claiming a clean pick. However, Crawley refused to buy it and stood his ground before umpires sent it upstairs for check. However, blurry angles caused a delay as the third umpire didn't want to take any chances.

Moreover, with the soft signals vanishing, the TV umpire's job has just gotten more tedious. Regardless, the authorities played multiple angles back and forth. A particular angle showed that the ball went straight into Siraj's palms, and the fielder did his best to hold on to it.

Eventually, the third umpire deemed the decision in India's favor, and the hosts had their third victim. Now it's safe to say the game is evenly poised as fans witnessed intense action in the very first session of the series' inaugural Test itself.