IND vs ENG 4th Test: Triple Sunday! Shubman Gill, Ravindra Jadeja script Sundar escape | Cricket News
MANCHESTER: At Lord’s a fortnight ago, when Mohammed Siraj was unfortunately bowled out in the last hour of the Test, Ravindra Jadeja remained unbeaten but was defeated by Ben Stokes and England’s relentlessness. On Sunday at Old Trafford, he looked them in the eye and walked back to the dressing room triumphant, unbeaten, and a proud centurion, having secured a draw to stay alive in the series. At the other end was Washington Sundar, India’s next-gen spin-bowling allrounder, getting his maiden century as the duo dragged India out of a hole to finish at the score of 425/4. Jadeja and Washington Sundar, by scoring an unbeaten 107 off 185 and 101 off 206 respectively, batted out 55.2 overs for 203 runs on a pitch with distinct variable bounce and some sharp turn to follow up captain Shubman Gill’s exceptionally gritty 103 and KL Rahul’s fighting 90. In doing so, they extracted every ounce of Stokes and England’s energy to take the series into the last Test at the Oval next week with the scoreline reading 2-1. Stokes, who literally bowled with his bowling arm hanging from his right shoulder to rock India in the first 80 minutes of the day, went up to shake hands with Jadeja and Washington, having made peace with a draw with an hour left to play. Jadeja and Washington turned down the offer to comically complete their centuries with resigned Harry Brook and Joe Root tossing harmless deliveries to be hit to the boundaries.
This generation of Indian cricketers’ identity is their stomach for a fight, which was headlined by the draw they stole against Australia in Sydney 2021. This bunch of Indian cricketers, raised largely on the riches of T20 cricket, declared their appetite for success in Test cricket. It couldn’t have been better for Indian cricket than their 25-year-old captain Gill, on his first assignment, leading the way with a hundred that will define him as a force in Test cricket.
The only false shot in the innings cost him his wicket when he poked at a wide delivery off Jofra Archer minutes before lunch. Jadeja’s only blemish of the day came off the next ball, flashing at another wide delivery only for Joe Root to drop the catch at first slip. Jadeja has played many come-frombehind knocks for India before. Seldom did the results of those matches favour India.
This Old Trafford innings will give him that new feeling of satisfaction. Washington has just put a stamp on his quiet effectiveness in crunch situations. There have been no Indian centurions at Old Trafford since Sachin Tendulkar’s maiden Test century in 1990.
India added three names to the honours board on Sunday. The 112th over of the innings, minutes before tea, was the defining moment for India, and a shift in momentum happened. Jadeja and Washington brought up their fifties in the same over off Stokes, dispatching him to opposite sides of the boundary. It also wiped out the 311-run deficit. An animated Stokes got engaged in verbal volleys.
The pitch and English attack both went flat. The two left-handers responded after tea by swatting away the English attack with consummate ease. Left-arm spinner Liam Dawson, Stokes’ go-to man for the day, bowled 47 overs of mostly harmless left-arm spin for 0/95. England though started off well. Stokes, who didn’t bowl on the fourth evening of the Test, swung into action immediately early on the fifth morning. Half an hour into the day, he got one to stay low and caught Rahul in front of the stumps. Every time he delivered the ball, he grunted like a tennis player playing the last game of the fifth set of a Grand Slam final. He was deservedly named player of the match for his efforts.
