Indian actor pleasantly shocked by England's stunning 1st Day declaration in Ashes opener: 'New era of cricket'

INDIAN ACTOR Mahesh Babu was pleasantly shocked with England's play on the first day of the first Ashes Test at Edgbaston as Ben Stokes's side declared after scoring 393 for 8 wickets, to give his bowlers an opportunity to pick a few Australia wickets. The visitors, who recently won the World Test Championship final crushing India at The Oval, did not lose any wicket and ended the day on 14 for no loss, trailing by another 379.

The hosts had slipped to 176 for 5 after Stokes won the toss and elected to bat but Joe Root's century coupled with Jonny Bairstow's run-a-ball 78 saw them scripting a big comeback. Australia spinner Nathan Lyon was the best performer for his side by picking four wickets but he spent 149 runs for them.

Babu, a known face in Telugu films, tweeted, "393-8 d... Am I reading this right... Wow... Just wow... Witnessing a new era of Cricket... Bazball."

The term 'Bazball' comes from the name of England's head coach Brendon McCullum who took over last year. The former New Zealand captain is nicknamed "Baz" and he was known for his aggressive stroke play, a style that the England team now seems to have adopted by attacking the opponents irrespective of their position in the game.

Root's 118 was his 30th ton in Tests and the first in the Ashes after eight years and 17 matches.