Ashwin-less India turn up the heat on England in third Test

Losing your premier bowler and crucial lower order batsman in the middle of a Test is never good news. That it happened at exactly the mid point of the five-Test series - third day of the third Test - put India in trouble.

But the home team did not let the absence of elite spinner Ravichandran Ashwin - out of the match due to personal emergency - break their stride as they took complete control of the Rajkot Test, pushing their lead to 322 after a sensational spell by their bowlers and an attacking century by opener Yashasvi Jaiswal.

England had raced to 207-2 by stumps on day two at almost six runs an over, harbouring genuine hopes of coming close to India's first innings total of 445. And especially because Ashwin was out of the contest.

Then, Joe Root decided to reverse scoop Jasprit Bumrah early on Saturday. He was caught at slip against the run of play, and that gave India belief.

Next over, Jonny Bairstow was trapped lbw by Kuldeep Yadav and when overnight centurion Ben Duckett offered a dolly to cover off the same bowler, the visitors had lost five wickets for 260.

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