Ishant Sharma became only the third Indian pacer to take 300 Test wickets after dismissing England batsman Daniel Lawrence in the ongoing first Test at the MA Chidambram Stadium on Monday. Kapil Dev and Zaheer Khan are the two fast bowlers ahead of him, with 434 and 311 wickets, respectively. Anil Kumble is the highest wicket-taker for India in Tests with 619 dismissals to his name. Ishant, who returned to the playing XI after missing the Australia tour due to injury, has looked in fine form. In England’s first innings, the lanky pacer took two wickets, giving away just 52 runs off 27 overs.

On Monday, the 32-year-old didn’t have the chance to bowl with the new ball with captain Virat Kohli opting to go with Ravichandran Ashwin and Shahbaz Nadeem. But after being brought into the attack, Ishant struck in his second over, trapping Lawrence plumb in front of the stumps.

Earlier, India were bowled out for for 337 runs, conceding a lead of 241 runs in the first innings. Despite taking a lead in excess of 200 runs, the visiting skipper Joe Root didn’t enforce the follow-on the penultimate day.

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Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin gave India a great start as he dismissed opener Rory Burn for a first-ball duck.

More to follow…