Ravichandran Ashwin smashed for 167 runs by England, Harbhajan Singh considers it a `one-off` day

New Delhi: After dominating with the ball against West Indies and England, India – to be more precise – Indian bowlers had a rare off day against England after they were smashed for 537 runs in 1st innings.

Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja were once again expected to spin their magical web around the English batsman as many were predicting this to be a one-sided encounter going in the favour of the hosts.

Surprisingly, Ashwin was the leakiest Indian bowler, conceding 167 runs and bagging only two wickets.

Harbhajan Singh analysed bowlers' struggle against England, especially that of Ashwin.

As reported by Cricket Country, Bhajji said, "actual fun is when one bowls on challenging tracks."

“Mazaa toh tab hain jab wickets challenging ho (It’s fun when the track throws up challenge for the bowlers). You have to be consistent with your lines and try different things. You have to toil to get wickets and that brings to the fore your skills as a bowler,” said Harbhajan while labeling Ashwin's bad day with the ball as a one-off.

“Root, Stokes and Moeen are all good players. While they are a young team they have batted well in the Test match so far. But it is still early days. You can’t write off Indian bowlers. It’s one off thing and I am backing both Ashwin and Jadeja to come good in the second innings.”

Harbhajan again backed fellow off-spinner Ashwin, calling him a very capable bowler. "I expect him to get a lot of wickets. I am expecting India to win at least 3-0,” said Bhajji.

Harbhajan, who recently became a dad, labelled the experience of fatherhood bigger than that of winning two World Cups.

India started Day 3 in Rajkot in 1st Test with Gautam Gambhir and Murali Vijay on crease after wrapping up Day 2 on 63/0.