India captain Shubman Gill took pride in his team’s resilience during the gripping final day of the Lord’s Test. India’s Test skipper Shubman Gill didn’t give a clear-cut answer to a query on ace pacer Jasprit Bumrah’s availability, saying that everyone will come to know in time if the latter plays the upcoming Manchester Test, the fourth game of the five-match series, which will be played from July 23.
After India were reduced to 82 for 7 just before lunch, their lower order fought valiantly to drag the game into the final session. India eventually fell short by 22 runs as England took a 2-1 lead in the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy. Veteran all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja and the fragile tail brought India back from the brink but fell short in the face of England skipper Ben Stokes’ resolve, going down by 22 runs in the fluctuating third Test at Lord’s.
India came close, but not close enough. And in the end, they fell short by 22 runs to give England a 2-1 lead in the five-match series for the Anderson-Tendulkar trophy. A Test cricket purist cannot ask for more. From being 112/8, when all hopes and beliefs were lost, India’s lower order, which has come under the scanner for all the wrong reasons lately, showed stomach for a fight.
It was because of Mohammed Siraj, Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja that India were able to reduce the margin of the defeat. Sure, one school of thought will say that India bottled an easy chase – and that is true – but let it not overshadow the spirit shown by India’s 9, 10 and 11 batters, along with the one and only Jadeja.
Jadeja added 30 runs with Nitish Reddy, 35 with Jasprit Bumrah, and another 23 with Siraj, which brought them close but not enough, as India were bowled out for 170. Jadeja did brilliantly to bat as well as he did with the tail, but his innings was also surrounded by a huge ‘what if’.
Could he have farmed the strike a lot more to his partners? Could he have shown a little more intent and attempted more boundaries? Former India head coach Ravi Shastri was very vocal about Jadeja’s approach, constantly expressing his desire to see the India all-rounder break free. However Shubman Gill defended Ravindra Jadeja’s caution play as well was proud the way India fought back after being in a precarious situation.
Shubman Gill is in full praise of Indian cricket team
India captain Shubman Gill took pride in his team’s resilience during the gripping final day of the Lord’s Test. After India were reduced to 82 for 7 just before lunch, their lower order fought valiantly to drag the game into the final session. India eventually fell short by 22 runs as England took a 2-1 lead in the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy.
“I’m extremely proud, this is as close as a Test match can get,” Shubman Gill said at the post-match presentation.
“Five days of hard-fought cricket, comes down to the last session, last wicket. I’m extremely proud.”
When Shoaib Bashir dismissed Mohammed Siraj to seal victory, Ravindra Jadeja was left stranded on 61, a heroic vigil that lasted 181 deliveries, with the standout aspect being his marshalling of the lower order. He put on 30 with Nitish Kumar Reddy, 35 with Jasprit Bumrah, and 23 with Siraj.
“He’s very experienced,” Shubman Gill said of Ravindra Jadeja.
“We didn’t want to give him any message. He was batting brilliantly with the tail. Wanted him and the tail to bat as long as possible.”
Shubman Gill said India had let themselves down late on the fourth day when they lost three quick wickets – Karun Nair, Shubman Gill himself and nightwatcher Akash Deep – in a dramatic last half-hour, slipping from 42 for 1 to 58 for 4. Shubman Gill felt that one “50-run partnership” from the top order could have helped them knock off the target.
“The last one hour that we played [on day four], I think we could have applied ourselves a bit better, especially the last two wickets that fell,” Shubman Gill said.
“Even this morning, the way they came up with a plan, we were hoping for one 50-run partnership, if we got it from the top order, it would’ve been easy for us.”
Did they have any hope after Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul and Washington Sundar all fell in the first half-hour on Monday?
“There was always hope, as long as there’s batting,” Shubman Gill said.
“[Needed] one 50-run partnership. The target wasn’t massive, one 50-60-run partnership and we were right back into the game.”
Shubman Gill also identified Pant’s run out in the first innings, by a direct hit from Ben Stokes, as a pivotal moment in the game. Pant and Rahul had added a century partnership, putting India on track for a sizeable lead. However, in a bid to get Rahul on strike so he could reach his century before lunch, Pant attempted a quick single only to be run out for 74.
“Definitely,” Shubman Gill said when asked if the run out proved crucial.
“At one point, I thought if we get a lead of 80-100, it might be crucial. We knew on the fifth day on this wicket, it won’t be easy to chase 150-200. Thought if we can get a lead of 80-100, we would be in a good position.”
Shubman Gill would take heart from the fact that India fought tooth and nail to work the result in their favour. When 7 wickets went down inside 100, they could have easily thrown in the towel or played for a draw. But Jadeja, Siraj, Nitish Reddy and Bumrah kept at it, to the extent that the margin of runs required kept coming down. 90 to 70, 70 to 30, 30 to less than 20, even.
Had that ball not trickled onto the stumps after hitting Siraj’s bat, who knows, India could have scripted arguably their greatest heist, even trumping Gabba. In a matter of 3 hours, what could have ended up being a meek surrender became known as a fight for the ages, and Shubman Gill couldn’t be prouder of the effort. Surely, he would have expected a lot more from India’s in-form top order, but the law of averages is real.
With England taking a 2–1 lead in the series, India will be hoping to bounce back when the two teams meet in the fourth Test, starting 23 July in Manchester.
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