The hills of Dharamshala were alive with the sound of music but not even the eclectic blend of power ballads and dad rock pumped from the speakers between overs could soften the sense of dread among the England supporters at this postcard perfect ground.
As they sat there on day one of this “bucket list” fifth Test, puffer jackets zipped up despite the Kangra Valley being bathed in bright spring sunshine, they watched Ben Stokes and his men turn in a performance that somewhat undermined the captain’s firm rebuttal of departure lounge syndrome being a risk with the series already lost to India.
Plenty had gone England’s way, too, not least Stokes winning the toss on a surface he dubbed a “belter”. And yet with the snow-capped Himalayan peaks behind him, Kuldeep Yadav’s bewitching five-wicket display of left-arm wrist-spin, plus four for Ravichandran Ashwin on his 100th Test appearance, saw the tourists bowled out for 218 in just 57.4 overs. The nadir? An avalanche of five for eight in 36 balls after lunch.
Consolation barely materialised before stumps, India racing to 135 for one in 30 overs through Rohit Sharma’s unbeaten 52. Shoaib Bashir claimed the one wicket to fall, Yashasvi Jaiswal stumped, but not before the left-hander had pumped three sixes from the off-spinner’s first over en route to 57 from 58 balls. When Shubman Gill slog-swept the final ball of the day over the mid-wicket boundary, India’s dominance had been rubber-stamped.
