India v England: Shoaib Bashir stars as tourists take charge of fourth Test

The youngster took four wickets after Joe Root finished unbeaten on 122, before India's eighth-wicket pair dug in to stall England's progress on the second evening

Ranchi (day two of five): England 353, India 219-7 - India trail by 134 runs with three wickets remaining

A terrific display of off-spin bowling from Shoaib Bashir put England in a commanding position after the second day of the fourth Test in Ranchi.

Bashir, playing in just his eighth first-class match, produced a masterful spell, full of guile well beyond his years, to bowl the tourists into a position of real strength as they look to level the series and set up a fifth-Test decider.

He took the first four-wicket haul of his short professional career, trapping Shubman Gill and Rajat Patidar in front, before having Ravindra Jadeja caught at short leg and the prolific Yashasvi Jaiswal bowled. He was assisted by a surface now regularly playing tricks on the batters and keeping extremely low on occasion.

Earlier, Joe Root had taken his overnight century to an unbeaten 122, with Ollie Robinson contributing his first Test half century, before England ultimately lost their last three wickets for just six runs.

A final total of 353, though, was a terrific effort on a tricky pitch, having been 112 for 5 at lunch on Friday.

^{Shoaib Bashir bowled 31 overs unchanged (Gareth Copley/Getty Images)}

That looked an even better total once a cracked surface began to misbehave. Robinson twice had Jaiswal edge behind – once falling just short of Zak Crawley at second slip, once – after a third-umpire review – marginally short of Ben Foakes.

But the in-form opener was once again the glue for India, making 73 before a Bashir delivery scuttled through to bowl him.

Otherwise, there was fleeting support: Rohit Sharma edged James Anderson behind, Gill looked in good touch until struck on the front pad, Patidar was pinned playing back, Jadeja – after striking two sixes – found short leg, Sarfaraz Khan – who narrowly survived a runout – was superbly caught by Root at slip.

Ravichandran Ashwin was hit on the shin by Tom Hartley as England threatened to run through India, before a brave rearguard between Dhruv Jurel and Kuldeep Yadav put on 42 runs for the eighth wicket to halt England's progress.

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