Watch: Ben Stokes, who hasn’t bowled in a competitively in nearly a year, picked up Rohit Sharma off the very first delivery of his bowling comeback, on the second day of the Dharamshala Test.

Stokes has teased about his return to bowling through the series, having switched off one-half of his all-round abilities ever since the 2023 Lord’s Test against Australia. He underwent a knee surgery after the 2023 World Cup to fix the long-term injury, and has since been coy about returning to bowl.

He did mention mid-series that he could resume bowling in the fourth and fifth Test, which finally translated into reality after lunch on day two.

Rohit Sharma was offered a cracking delivery first up: the India captain couldn’t do much as his England counterpart pitched one on the stumps and moved it away off the pitch. The ball seared away to take out his off stump, leaving everyone around in astonishment.

“Magic ball, it’s like fantasy coming true,” said Sanjay Manjrekar on commentary, marvelling at the 133 kph ball that gave Stokes his first Test wicket since July 2023.

It broke a 171-run stand between Rohit and Shubman Gill, through the course of which both completed their centuries. Rohit’s wicket was Stokes’ 198th in Test cricket.

Watch: Ben Stokes cleans up Rohit Sharma with comeback cracker