Terrific Tons by Shubman Gill, Washington Sundar, and Ravindra Jadeja ensured the match concluded in a draw.
India stood firm even when their backs were against the wall, as the visitors, powered by splendid tons from Shubman Gill, Washington Sundar, and Ravindra Jadeja, frustrated England to end the 4th Test match of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy and keep the series alive with a game left.
The Day started with Ben Stokes, the player of the match, taking the crucial wicket of KL Rahul to end a formidable 188-run stand. A brilliant delivery, which was too low for Rahul to play, was hitting the leg stumps, which both the batter and the bowler realised, and so did the umpire. Rahul fell agonizingly short of 10 runs of a memorable ton at Old Trafford.
Although Rahul missed a golden chance to smash a ton, Shubman Gill continued to bat with perseverance and calmness as the Indian skipper went on to hit a memorable ton in front of the Manchester crowd. When the Indian skipper was looking for another partnership with Washington Sundar, Jofra Archer sent him back and put India in a bothersome situation.
What followed after Shubman Gill’s dismissal was the replay of day 4, as India dominated the next two sessions with a rock-solid knock by Ravindra Jadeja and also by Washington Sundar, as the two left-handed all-rounders showcased the Indian way of not giving up and standing until the end as their coalition ensured India scrape through the Manchester Test without handing Englishmen a win which could have sealed the series.
As usual in an India-England match, drama happened here too, as Harry Brook was trying to shake hands with Jadeja the moment he completed his hundred, but got interrupted by a celebrating Washington Sundar. Ben Stokes even had a frustrated exchange of words before this incident with Jadeja, as he wanted Jadeja to shake hands and to end the match, but Jadeja declined. Zak Crawley was heard asking Jadeja to shake their hands when he was playing in the 90s. It was then Jadeja and Sundar who shook hands with the frustrated hosts the moment Sundar got his maiden Test century.
As the match ended in a draw, this means India could no longer win the Test series on English soil and will have to wait for another chance in the future. However, India will look to win the 5th and the final Test match, which is scheduled to be played at The Oval from July 31 to August 4. Winning the final Test will help India draw the series with the scoreline of 2-2. For England, they need to either win or draw the next Test match to win the series, as they are currently leading 2-1. While Narayan Jagadeesan has replaced injured Rishabh Pant in the squad, there are questions regarding Jasprit Bumrah’s availability for the Final Test.
Game of Stats & Records
- This is the second time that an England match has been ended in a draw since Ben Stokes became skipper. Both of them were in Manchester.
- This is the first time that India’s no.4, no.5, and no.6 batters have slammed tons in an overseas Test match.
- Ravindra Jadeja now joins the West Indian legend Sir Gary Sobers as a batter with 5 50+ scores at no.6 or below batting position in England.
- KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja, and Rishabh Pant crossed the 1000-run mark in Tests in England in this Test match.
- Shubman Gill is now only behind Sir Don Bradman in the list of most runs in a Test Captaincy debut series.
- Shubman Gill equals Rohit Sharma as the Indian batter with the most centuries (9) in the World Test Championship history.
- Shubman Gill is the first Indian batter to smash a hundred at Old Trafford in the 21st Century.
- KL Rahul is now the second Indian opener after Sunil Gavaskar to smash more than 500 runs in a single Test series in England.
