WATCH: Ben Stokes Returns to Bowling in Tests After 9 Months, Cleans Up Rohit Sharma on First Ball

Ben Stokes dismissed his opposite number Rohit Sharma with the first ball of the series on day two of the fifth and last Test of the five-match series at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium in Dharamsala on Friday. This was Stokes’ very first ball he has bowled since having knee surgery late last year.

IND vs ENG: 5th Test, Day 2 – LIVE

Rohit Sharma had to walk back to the dressing room having scored 103 runs from 162 delviries, as he hit 13 strokes to the boundary and three over it.

Here is how Stokes got the wicket of Rohit:

Ben Stokes bowled his first ball of the series and that too was an absolute peach. Perfect length and angling onto the off and middle stump as the ball straightened off the deck and beat the outside edge to knock over the top of the off stump. Rohit Sharma could not believe it and even Stokes casually walked back to his mark like it was no big deal.

WATCH

Stokes, who said he would play purely as a batsman in the five-match series because of his knee, had hinted at a return to bowling ahead of the fourth Test.

Stokes has struggled with his left knee for some time, with the injury preventing him from bowling in the last three Ashes Tests in 2023 and the ODI World Cup later that year.

He underwent knee surgery in November and has been working his way back towards full fitness.

Stokes, a left-handed batsman, has scored 197 runs in the series,

Rohit had survived as the only chance before lunch went begging when Zak Crawley could not latch on to a sharp catch offered at leg-slip.

Rohit completed his 12th Test hundred and second of the series by flicking Tom Hartley for a single.

Shubman Gill also got to his hundred, two balls later in the next over, with a boundary off Shoaib Bashir as he took a bow and doffed his cap to all corners.

Spinner Kuldeep Yadav’s five-wicket haul handed India the early advantage as England collapsed from 175-3 to 218 all out after electing to bat in their bid for a consolation win.

India lost the opening Test but hit back to take an unbeatable 3-1 lead in the five-match series.

(With inputs from Agencies)