India, led by the sixth-wicket of pair Shubman Gill and Dhruv Jurel, stood up to England’s threat to win the fourth Test inside four days and claim the series 3-1 with one to play.
After Rohit Sharma and Yashaswi Jaiswal set off India’s chase beautifully, they suffered a substantial wobble, losing five wickets for 36 runs in 20.5 overs to be 120 for 5, needing 72 more runs for victory. But an unbroken partnership worth 72 between Shubman Gill and Dhruv Jurel, the latter playing just his second Test, saw them home. While this victory looked as easy as it seems nothing came pretty straight forward for a new look Indian squad on a Ranchi pitch where the 4th Test match had its topsy turvy moments to began with starting Day 1.
Pitch and Toss
India overcame a deflating loss in Hyderabad with two convincing wins in Vizag and Rajkot to take a 2-1 series lead. India were now into MSD territory with Ranchi hosting what could be a decisive Test. A win for India and they’ll gain an unassailable 3-1 series lead, a win for England and both the teams should head to Dharamsala for a winner take all contest. This is just the 3rd Test at this venue and the first since 2019.
The pitch which was called as ‘interesting’ by Ben Stokes is somewhat an unknown quantity as yet. It looked like a dry river bed with a lot of cracks, the ball could explode and turn from certain areas and it could happen very early into the match. The captain winning the toss will opt to bat first. But the turn could be slow and low, some shots could be tough, but this ain’t a rank turner as opined by the experts.
England rightly won the toss and elected to bat first. England made 2 changes in the squad with Rehan Ahmed replaced by Shoaib Bashir and Ollie Robinson got his chance in place of Mark Wood. India rested their ace player Jasprit Bumrah and handed debut cap to Aakash Deep who later impressed on Day 1.
Day 1 : Root’s 31st Test ton puts England in position of strength after dream debut from Aakash Deep put England into trouble.
The pitch had enough in it to keep both the spinners and pacers interested, making room for plenty of LBW shouts and reviews, a lot of which India got right initially before losing it all by the end of the second session. In between the shouts though, England kept attacking through cameos from Zak Crawley and Jonny Bairstow giving them crucial first innings runs on a surface that has given the impression of being one to break up quickly.
Before the spinners came into play, it was the debutant who packed a punch. Akash Deep got the ball to nip in sharply and away from the left-hander from round the wicket. Both of which proved fruitful against England’s openers. Ben Duckett fell nicking behind while Crawley was bowled twice almost identically after initially having a reprieve with Akash overstepping.
The big incoming delivery from a short of length proved too tough to handle for Crawley who lost his offstump after a run-a-ball 42. In between, Akash also had Ollie Pope LBW, leaving England tottering.
But Bairstow went on a counterattack to put India under pressure again. He alongside a watchful Root put on a 52-run stand, before Bairstow went to sweep Ashwin and was out LBW on review. India’s morning was capped off with Jadeja getting one to shoot through low to trap Stokes LBW. The earliest session provided a lot of ominous signs of how the pitch could behave for the rest of the Test.
Root, who was under pressure coming into this Test, led the way there as he chose a classical mode on a pitch that was offering assistance to the bowlers. His defensive game allowed for turning over the strike steadily as the pitch settled down. He got his first half-century of the series and was the pivot around which England managed to stick it out and motored through the sessions on one gear even as India tested him in a variety of ways including the reverse swing.
In Foakes, Root had a willing partner to get stuck in. Both batters rarely attempted the sweep, which was a dangerous proposition on a pitch keeping low, and through that managed to work around the spinners albeit some close shots. It was a much-needed partnership after debutant pacer Akash Deep had kickstarted a dramatic top-order collapse in the first session. where he knocked over England’s top three.
The duo first saw through the second session entirely on their own – the first time in the series where England batted through without losing a wicket – as England stuck to old-fashioned Test cricket without attempting any risky shots. But as the day wore on, England found a way to counter the dangers. A watchful Foakes fell just as he was nearing a fifty with Mohammad Siraj finding some reverse swing in the final session. Foakes ended up chipping to midwicket while Tom Hartley was bowled all ends up by similar movement from Siraj.
That, however, did not deter Root who got to his 10th Test ton against India with a driven boundary before adding more useful runs with Ollie Robinson, who accompanied him for an unbeaten 57-run stand that pushed them past the 300-run mark. Joe Root registered his 31st Test ton as he dragged England out from a quandary and put them in a position of strength by the end of the first day in Ranchi.
Day 2 : Spinners put England in command on Day 2
England’s spin duo of Shoaib Bashir and Tom Hartley put India in trouble on the second day of the fourth Test in Ranchi by sharing six wickets between them. After getting bowled out for 353 in their first innings, England kept striking at regular intervals despite Yashaswi Jaiswal’s efforts at the other end.
Jadeja then made quick work of the tail as Bashir first miscued one hoick and James Anderson got trapped lbw, leaving Root stranded on 122. England would have still been fairly pleased with the score of 353 though given they were reeling at 112/5 at one stage on the opening day. They received a massive boost with the ball too as Rohit Sharma ended up nicking Anderson behind very early in his innings.
Jaiswal on the other hand though got off to a bright start yet again. Having already smashed two double tons in the series, the opener was in great touch prior to the lunch break. He carried on the same vein post resumption as well but ended up watching a procession from the non-striker’s end. Bashir hurt India big time in the second session as he first trapped the well-set Shubman Gill lbw before getting rid of Rajat Patidar and Jadeja, who had smashed successive sixes prior to that.
Those three wickets put India on the backfoot and the onus was on Jaiswal again to revive the innings. The opener did continue to pile on the runs but England managed to keep Sarfaraz Khan quiet at the other end. The visitors then took full control of the game when Jaiswal dragged one back on to his stumps to fall for 73.
With half the side back in the pavilion and almost 200 runs still behind England’s tally, India needed a massive contribution from the lower order. However, England cashed in on their advantage as Hartley drew the outside edge of Sarfaraz before trapping R Ashwin leg-before-wicket. Kuldeep Yadav and Dhruv Jurel put up a brave fight batting out almost 18 overs before stumps but India still need a huge effort from the duo on the third morning to bridge the gap.
Day 3 : Dhruv Jurel and Indian spinners led by Ravichandran Ashwin turns the tide in India’s favour post Day 3.
Dhruv Jurel and India’s spin trio delivered on the third day in Ranchi to turn the tide in favour of the hosts. By stumps on the second day, India were under the pump but the see-saw contest has seen India take command as they now need only 152 runs to win the Test and the series with all ten wickets intact going into the final two days.
Dhruv Jurel showed plenty of fight by the end of the second day’s play and continued in the same vein on the third morning as well. Kuldeep Yadav, who played the ideal foil at the other end, managed to frustrate England with his dogged defence. The pair managed to 76 for the eighth wicket and reduced the deficit before James Anderson finally broke through.
Once Kuldeep was castled, Dhruv Jurel opted to open up and regularly cleared the ropes to add some crucial runs. Akash Deep offered support to an extent and Dhruv Jurel made use of that to race to 90 before missing a well-deserved ton.
His efforts helped the momentum shift in favour of India though as England only fetched a first-innings lead of 46. R Ashwin then dented England further by dismissing Ben Duckett and Ollie Pope off successive deliveries to put India firmly on top. Zak Crawley fought hard at one end but Ashwin broke through at the other end once again by bagging the big fish, Joe Root. Kuldeep then inflicted more misery on the visitors by castling Crawley and Ben Stokes before the Tea break.
England badly needed a significant contribution yet again from their lower order in order to keep fighting but unfortunately that didn’t arrive this time. Kuldeep and Ravindra Jadeja made more inroads before Ashwin completed his five-fer , his 35th in tests, to bowl the visitors out for just 145.
To make matters worse, the tricky chase of 192 received a boost before stumps with both Rohit Sharma and Yashaswi Jaiswal fetching vital runs. Rohit in particular attempted to play positive cricket and managed to fetch four boundaries. England will now have to rely on a batting collapse to stay alive in the series.
Day 4 : Calm Shubman Gill and Magnificent Dhruv Jurel weathers England spin storm to take India to series win with a 3-1 lead
On Monday morning, Rohit Sharma and Yashaswi Jaiswal were chewing through their target, adding 42 runs in the first eight overs of the day. Rohit slammed Anderson for six over mid-on to take his side past fifty, leaving them with 140 more to get. He and Jaiswal pulled out the sweeps and reverse-sweeps against Bashir and Hartley as they kept the boundary count up.
But Joe Root interrupted their stand on 84 runs, extracting some turn out of the rough with a full delivery, messing with Jaiswal’s attempt to clear extra cover as his outside edge flew to short third and Anderson flung his 41-year-old self forward for a full-stretch grab.
Hartley drew Rohit out of his crease with a ball outside off which kissed the edge ever so lightly before sailing into Foakes’ gloves. Even without the edge, Rohit would have been out for 55 as Foakes whipped off the bails with him still out of his ground and the dismissal was originally thought to be a stumping before Ultra Edge revealed a faint spike.
Bashir removed Rajat Patidar for a six-ball duck next over when his length ball turned from off stump into the inside edge and popped to Ollie Pope at short leg via the knee roll. It extended a poor series for Patidar, who has only twice reached double-figures and once passed 30 in six innings.
India went to lunch needing 74 with seven wickets in hand. Then Bashir swung the momentum England’s way with wickets in consecutive balls in the second over after the interval. He had Jadeja caught by Jonny Bairstow off a full toss, then got one to turn from outside off, beating Sarfaraz Khan’s defensive prod to take a thin edge onto the pad and into Pope’s hands at backward short-leg.
Dhruv Jurel survived the hat-trick ball and when he drove a full, wide Bashir delivery through the covers it was India’s first boundary off the bat in 31 overs and took their task under fifty runs. From there, he and Gill got to work, steadily accumulating the runs they needed. Jurel initially took the lead role in their union, reaching 32 off 70 balls before Gill, with 39 from 119, cut loose. With 20 runs needed, Gill launched Bashir over long-off, and then, two balls later, raised his fifty by clearing the fence at deep midwicket.
Jurel got in on the act, pulling Hartley through mid-on for four, and it was he who struck the winning runs, working a Hartley delivery off his legs as he and Gill ran two. India, led by the sixth-wicket of pair Shubman Gill and Dhruv Jurel, stood up to England’s threat to win the fourth Test inside four days and claim the series 3-1 with one to play at Dharamshala on March 7th 2024.
Presentations and Road Ahead.
Ben Stokes the loosing captain said : I think it was a great Test match. If you see the scoreboard, it’ll say India won by 5 wickets, but it doesn’t give credit to the way things unfolded, the ebbs and flows on every single day it happened. I can only be proud of my team, we ‘ve had some inexperienced spinners (Bashir and Hartley), but I’m proud of their efforts, they came here without a lot of exposure and the way they kept bowling, I can’t ask for anything more.
Part of my captaincy is allowing the young guys to revel and the freedom to play in some difficult and intimidating conditions in India. I am a massive Test cricket fan, the numbers of youngsters coming along in both teams sets things up nicely for the future of Test cricket. If you look yesterday, anything was possible, it was incredibly difficult batting against the spinners (Ashwin, Jadeja and Kuldeep), scoring became difficult and so was rotating the strike.
We knew the pitch wouldn’t get any better, as we saw today. I don’t think the criticism of Joe Root has been fair, the sheer amount of cricket he’s played, got 12,000 Test runs. He’s incredible. So is Bashir, what a story, what a journey, taking 8 wickets including a 5-fer against India after having hardly played a lot of cricket is superb. You want to win series, you want to play and win cricket matches. I’ve been here for a couple of years (as captain) and my message is simple
The only thing I can say is we left nothing on the field, we’ve fought hard and I’m happy with that.
Rohit Sharma the winning captain said : It has been a very hard fought series without a doubt and to come on the right side of it at the end of four Test matches feels really good. Really proud of everyone in the dressing room. They were a lot of challenges thrown at us but I thought we responded pretty well. We had different challenges in different Test matches and I thought we were quite composed in what we wanted to achieve and what we wanted to do on the field, very happy.
Clearly tells me they (youngsters) want to be here, all the hard work they have done in the past, coming up playing domestic cricket and performing there, coming here it is a big challenge but when I look at them, talk to them and the responses that I get from them is quite encouraging.
My job and Rahul Bhai’s job is to give them the environment they want to be in and they don’t feel too much about going out there and getting the job done, they want to get the job done but there’s no point to keep talking about it or reminding them about it because they are very clear in what they want to do. Jurel playing his second Test showed solid composure, calmness and he’s got the shots as well to play all around the wicket.
The first innings 90 of his was very crucial for us to get close to that England’s total and again in the second innings showed lot of maturity, composure along with Gill. It is not pleasing when you miss your key players, but you can do nothing as a group. Those guys (Kohli and Co.) are proven players in every condition and to come in and fill their shoes was not easy for these guys.
There was pressure from the outside not inside but I thought they responded very well to all the situations. When you make a mark like that, it holds you in good position to have a long career. Performances like this will motivate them and make sure whenever the opportunity comes they are ready for it.
We turn up for every Test wanting to win no matter what has happened in the past. Obviously this has been a great series but we want to make sure we turn up for that (Dharamsala Test) game and put our best foot forward. Some of these guys were not used to playing a 5-match series but they have showed a lot of calmness and composure. I am confident we will put up the same show as the last three Test matches.
Dhruv Jurel was the Player of the Match (90 and 39* runs) said : I play according to the demands of the situation. The 1st innings, we needed to get runs as well, we knew we had to bat last and so any runs would be vital. I was involved in some partnerships, so credit does go to all those who stayed and added runs.
I just saw the ball and then reacted to it, not thinking too far ahead. The conversation was good (with Shubman Gill in the 2nd innings), we just broke it into 10-run sets and started developing the partnership.
No Kohli for the entire series, no KL Rahul for three Tests, no Jadeja for a Test, no Ashwin for half-a-Test, no Bumrah for the 4th Test – India were deprived of some serious talent and were up against the ‘Bazballers’ of England, but it’s Rohit Sharma’s men who’ve had the last laugh. They’ll go to Dharamsala hoping to put the icing on the cake and one of India’s prettiest venues will look forward to a fitting finale to what has been a superb Test series.
17th consecutive Test series wins at home for India, they’re now only behind Australia’s 28. For Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum, this is their first series loss and a galling one at that. They do have a chance to bounce back and end their India tour on a good note in Dharamsala. For India, it’s all about taking the series by a 4-1 margin. A small break before the two teams meet each other on the 7th in the picturesque place of Dharamshala.