Virat Kohli prolongs England’s hangover after Ravi Ashwin comes to the party | Ali Martin


India’s captain decides against enforcing the follow-on as Ashwin reminds England why he is the world’s No1 bowler with five wickets in the second Test

At 1.36pm on the third day in Visakhapatnam, with a round 200-run first-innings lead safely tucked away in his back pocket, Virat Kohli opted against enforcing the follow-on and with it delayed England’s next trial by spin on the subcontinent temporarily.

Kohli’s opposite number, Alastair Cook, knows all about the chuntering from the golf-mad commentariat that can result from such a call – Old Trafford against Pakistan last summer springs to mind – and yet on this occasion, with just under half the Test remaining and a pitch to wear further, few could groan at the India captain’s decision.

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