Thirimanne the bunny, and Ashwin-Jadeja v Kumble-Harbhajan

When R Ashwin dismissed Lahiru Thirimanne in the morning session, not many would have been surprised. After all, this had already happened 11 times previously in all international cricket - six times in ODIs, five times in Tests, and once in T20Is. It is the most times he has dismissed any batsman, and the most times any bowler has dismissed Thirimanne in international cricket.

Since the start of 2010, only two bowler-batsman pairs are higher in this list: Mahela Jayawardene-Saeed Ajmal, and Mohammad Hafeez-Dale Steyn. Both Thirimanne and Ashwin feature once more in the top five - Thirimanne has been Anderson's bunny as well, while Ashwin has had plenty of success against David Warner as well.

In terms of frequency of dismissal, though, the Ashwin-Thirimanne one is better than any of the other entries in the top five. Of the 18 times that Ashwin has bowled to Thirimanne in internationals, he has dismissed him 12 times, which is a frequency of one dismissal every 1.5 innings.

For the 24th time in a home Test, Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja were a part of India's team, and as usual, they wreaked havoc on the opposition batsmen, combining to take 7 for 123 to bundle Sri Lanka out for 205. In these 24 Tests, they have combined to take 273 wickets at 20.94, with 22 five-wicket hauls between them. In these 24 matches, these two bowlers have taken 64% of India's bowler-wickets; the other bowlers have combined to take 155 scalps at 33.35.

Australia's top order versus England's lower order

Australia have home advantage going into the 2017-18 Ashes series, but several pundits have suggested that the series is too close to call, with neither team having an overwhelming advantage. And while it is true that England were drubbed 5-0 the last time they toured here, in 2013-14, in terms of recent form there is little to separate the two.

Australia's worry over the last 18 months has been their batting, while England seem to have a few holes in their top order as well. In terms of recent results, England have a slight edge: since April 2016, they have a 10-9 win-loss record compared to Australia's 6-8. However, that is also because England have played two home seasons during this period to Australia's one: they have been 9-4 at home and 1-5 away, while Australia were 4-2 at home and 2-6 away.

The comparison is made easier by the fact that both teams have played similar opposition sides recently. In these last 18 months, both Australia and England have played at home against South Africa and Pakistan, and away in India and Bangladesh. Australia had a 6-5 record in these matches, compared to England's 6-8: they lost 0-4 to India and only managed a 2-2 draw against Pakistan, while Australia did better against these teams but lost at home to South Africa. In these four series, there is little to choose between the batting averages of the two teams, but Australia were the better bowling unit, averaging 29.14 to England's 33.23. (Apart from these four series, Australia toured Sri Lanka and lost 3-0 during this period, while England played home series versus Sri Lanka and West Indies, winning 2-0 and 2-1. These series skew the overall numbers in England's favour during this period.)

While the overall batting averages are almost the same in these series, the break-up by batting positions reveals the different strengths of these two teams. Australia's top five, which includes David Warner, Steven Smith, Usman Khawaja and Peter Handscomb, have pretty good numbers in these four series, with the top four slots all averaging in the mid- to late-40s. Smith has averaged 63.55 in these games, while Warner (45.04), Handsomb (49.07) and Khawaja (48.58) have also been impressive.

England's top five, on the other hand, struggled in these four series, with only Joe Root averaging more than 40. He averaged an outstanding 53.86, but next best was Alastair Cook at 39.62, followed by Moeen Ali (36.38) and Jonny Bairstow (34.10). Together, they managed only eight hundreds in 15 Tests, compared to Australia's 13 from 12. Among the failures for England in the top five positions in these series are Gary Ballance (304 runs in 15 innings), Keaton Jennings (294 from 12) and James Vince, who is slotted to bat at No. 3 in the Ashes. Vince has scored only 212 runs from 11 innings in his Test career, while batting at numbers four or five in those innings.

Vinay Kumar keeps his India comeback dream alive

R Vinay Kumar hasn't yet given up on his dream of playing for India again, four years after his last international appearance. The ghosts of that match still linger when his international career is discussed: on a flat pitch at his home ground, the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru against Australia, Vinay was battered for 102 runs, the second-most expensive nine-over returns in ODIs.

Opportunities since have been scant. He was part of the squad for home series against West Indies later that year, and travelled to Bangladesh in 2014, but did not make the XI. Vinay is at peace with his position, realising the competition among pacers in the national side, but is firm in the pursuit of his ambition. At 33, he is working harder than ever on keeping himself fit and has learned to be smarter about his bowling workload. "I'm matured enough to understand my situation. If I'm 21 or 22, then it (being out of the India team) may be very difficult to digest," he told ESPNcricinfo.

Vinay has learned to count every chance he gets as a blessing. He has had the right kind of people around to guide him, like Sachin Tendulkar, his mentor at Mumbai Indians, who impressed on him the importance of remembering the love for the game that he started out with in the first place.

"Bowlers are always happy to take five wickets. I'm the kind of bowler, who when a partnership needs to be broken, I'll be happy to come in and get a wicket. That's like getting five wickets for me. These small moments are what I enjoy very much. Breaking partnerships is a huge achievement for me. Indian team is always at the back of my mind, but I try to seek happiness from such small things and it makes me work harder on my game."

The time out of the Indian team has not affected his domestic impact. In the last four seasons, Vinay has been among Karnataka's top two wicket-takers in three of them. He captained them to six domestic titles in the 2013-14 and 2014-15 seasons. This year, he has already taken 13 wickets in three matches at 15.46, including a six-for against Maharashtra. With over 400 first-class wickets at an average of 23, Vinay has been a powerhouse performer in first-class cricket. His 369 wickets in the Ranji Trophy make him the highest wicket-taker among pace bowlers in the history of the tournament.

"Last three years, I got two awards from BCCI: best bowler award (highest wicket-taker in 2014-15 Ranji Trophy) and best allrounder award (in limited-overs cricket in 2013-14). Performance-wise, I don't have any doubt that I can come back into the Indian side, but I need to wait for an opportunity.

"There are two ways of looking at it - one, get frustrated and try to do something that you're not used to, or second is to keep it simple and keep doing what you have been, try to enjoy your cricket and whenever you get the opportunity, try to perform and raise your goals a little higher. You may or may not reach the goal, but that kind of challenges and motivates you to go out and perform. At the end of the day, when I go back to my room, I should be happy about the way I bowled. That feel-good factor is very important for me."