India high on Fantashtic five

India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin (right) along with captain Virat Kohli and Shubman Gill (left) successfully appeals for the wicket of England’s Dom Sibley on Day Two of the second Test at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai yesterday. Pic/PTI

The MA Chidambaram Stadium is R Ashwin's spiritual, cricketing home. It's here that he took his first steps towards international superstardom. It's here that he spent his early years in the relative anonymity of local and first-class cricket.

His organic ascension up the ladder has presented the off-spinner with more than one opportunity to express his gratitude for the role Chepauk has played in his extraordinary journey. He has seldom not seized that chance, so it came as no surprise when he delighted a thrilled audience with a majestic exhibition of his craft on the second day of the second Test against England on Sunday.

Exactly a week back, Ashwin, 34, had picked up six for 61 in England's second innings of the first Test. There was a touch to the pyrrhic in that effort, because India were always fighting a losing battle after conceding a lead of 241. That, seven days on, he has put his team on course to level the series must make his 29th five-wicket haul that much more satisfying.

Ashwin's five for 43- he now has 27 wickets in seven innings at Chepauk-bowled India to a commanding 195-run lead on the first innings, a tally that had mushroomed to 249 after the hosts finished Day Two on 54 for one. It's improbable, if not downright impossible, to envisage any result other than a home victory at some stage in the next couple of days.

Jack Leach and especially Moeen Ali hadn't made the most of the help they received from the dry Chennai surface on Saturday.

Ashwin showed them the way a day later, falling back on his mastery over line and length and invoking subtle variations to maintain sustained pressure on a batting line-up bereft of ideas and fight once in-form skipper Joe Root fell, top-edging a sweep off debutant left-arm spinner Axar Patel to short fine-leg.

The sweep had served England's purpose well on the first two days of the first Test when the ball came slowly and evenly off the deck. Batting wasn't as straightforward this time around, but as Rohit Sharma proved on Day One, the sweep could still be productive when used judiciously. England didn't, and Ashwin was at hand to lure them to their doom.

His comrades in plotting England's downfall included the impressive Axar Patel, pace aces Ishant Sharma and Mohammed Siraj, and Rishabh Pant, who grabbed two sensational left-handed pouches behind the stumps. All in all, it was a near-perfect day for the hosts. If only they could allow mind, and not heart, to call the shots when they decide to review umpiring decisions.

Brief scores
India 329 & 54-1 in 18 overs
(R Sharma 25 batting) v England 1st innings 134 all out in 59.5 overs (B Foakes 42 not out,O Pope 22; R Ashwin 5-43)

Top Test wicket-takers in India
Name Matches Wickets
1) Anil Kumble 63 350
2) R Ashwin 45 268
3) Harbhajan Singh 55 265
4) Kapil Dev 65 219
5) R Jadeja 33 157