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Young spinner Shoaib Bashir grabbed four wickets in a marathon spell of 31 overs that spanned across all three sessions. He bowled one before lunch and then operated non-stop in the remaining two sessions with a total of 32 overs under his belt.

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“The way he bowls is a great little insight into his character and personality, he is quite cheeky and great fun to be around. There’s clearly a huge amount of skill in what he does, as he proved with the way he bowled for not just small spells but a long period of time,” Joe Root said after the end of play on day two of the fourth Test of the five-match series at the JSCA International Stadium Complex in Ranchi on Saturday.

“To be able to continually put pressure on some very good players of spin, I know the wicket was helpful at times, but he did an amazing job and it’s a great sign for English cricket moving forward. You do have to work in partnerships and Tommy (Hartley) was excellent alongside him, too,” he added.

Bashir, who missed the opener due to a visa delay and is playing his second Test, was ably supported by two wickets from fellow spinner Tom Hartley.

The day belonged to Bashir, who came on to bowl in the ninth over of India’s innings and remained unchanged from his end until Root replaced him shortly before stumps.

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“I think they bowled well,” India’s bowling coach Paras Mhambrey said of the opposition spinners.

“Bashir bowled well. He has just kept it simple and picked up wickets for that.”

Mhambrey said Bashir “stuck to his strength, he’s not a big spinner, he is a tall guy, keeps his length, and keeps it simple. It’s the same for Hartley as well.”

Root is confident that England have the edge in the match.

“We’ve got ourselves into a nice position at the end of the first innings. Obviously, it looks like it (pitch) is going to keep deteriorating and keep getting worse.

“So if we can get three early wickets tomorrow, hopefully that puts us in a really strong position for the rest of the game,” he signed off.

Joe Root hit an unbeaten 122 for England, who trail 2-1 and are fighting to stay alive in the five-match series.

(With inputs from Agencies)