The fourth Test between England and India has ended in a stalemate draw at Emirates Old Trafford. Here are our top five moments of the Test.
1. Root Relentless Again
Embed from Getty ImagesAnother Test, another milestone for England’s greatest batsman, as his knock of 150 means he surpasses former Australian captain Ricky Ponting in the list of top scorers in Test cricket.
Scores 2,512 more, and he’ll reach Sachin Tendulkar as the highest run scorer in this format.
What makes Root such a special player is that his desire to score runs in all conditions and his commitment to batting.
He hardly gets flustered by the opposition, particularly if they start sledging him.
He lets his bat do the talking and always takes advantage of poor deliveries bowled by the bowlers.
It wouldn’t be surprising if he gets another 100 at the Oval. He will also go past Kumar Sangakkara’s 38 tons should he manage to do so.
2. Captain Gill In The Form Of His Life
Embed from Getty ImagesThree hundred and a double in the series. The Indian Captain is undoubtedly making it talk with the bat.
The most pleasing thing about all those innings is how solid he looks in the middle.
With 722 runs so far in this series, he is just 52 away from Sunil Gavaskar’s record of the most runs by an Indian batsman in a Test series.
His partnership of 188 with KL Rahul set up the platform, which gave India a real chance of fighting out a draw in this Test.
Stepping into the shoes of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma isn’t an easy thing to do, and so far, Gill is handling it nicely.
3. Stokes Back To His Best
Embed from Getty ImagesWhile the England captain was back to his best with the ball at Lord’s, at Old Trafford, he was back to his best with the bat.
He scored a sensational 141 to help England propel their first innings score to 500 and beyond.
His 150 partnership with Root was what took England from a par score of 400+ to 500 and beyond, to put any chance of an India win to bed.
Stokes also took 5-72, which restricted India to a first innings score of 358, after being 266-5.
He was the only bowler who looked the most threatening on that wicket.
This was probably because of his bowling action, particularly the way he often leans to the side, which then forces the batsman to play at deliveries that they usually would leave alone.
He did, however, look a bit uncomfortable, as he was holding his left shoulder a few times after he bowled.
Hopefully, it’s not too serious, and we see him bowl at the Oval.
4. 1st Ton For Sundar
Embed from Getty ImagesOne of the key areas for posting big scores on the board is to have depth in your batting. If you have bowlers who are more than capable of scoring runs with the bat, it releases the pressure on the top order.
When India lost the wicket of KL Rahul after the first hour of the final day, Sundar was walking into a cauldron, where India knew that if they had lost another wicket, they could have quite easily succumbed to a swift defeat.
Fortunately, he managed to put out the fire, as he stitched a 34-run partnership with the Indian Captain, followed by a mammoth 203-run stand with Ravindra Jadeja, which took the sting out of England’s chances of pulling off a win.
There have been a few questions regarding the balance of India’s team selection, especially with the likes of Kuldeep Yadav not featuring.
But what you get with Sundar is the extra depth in batting, so surely he has to play the final Test.
Perhaps the Left-Arm bowler could come in for Shardul Thakur, who was ineffective at Old Trafford?
5. Pant Bats With Broken Foot
Embed from Getty ImagesWhile most fans are aware of how big a match-winner the flamboyant Indian Wicketkeeper-Batsman is. Sadly, he is now out of the final Test, due to a fractured right foot.
The damage was done after he inside edged a yorker from Chris Woakes onto his foot.
Amazingly, he did come out to bat on one leg the next day, after he was unbeaten on 37, and showed great grit and determination to stay out in the middle and carry on batting.
He ended up with a score of 54, and full marks for him for toughing it out in the middle, and wanting to fight for his team.
India has named Narayan Jagadeesan as Pant’s replacement for the Oval.
Jagadeesan has 3,373 runs at an average of 47.50 in 52 first-class matches, with 10 hundreds and 14 fifties.
Will he be given a first Test cap on Thursday morning?
So those were our top five moments of the fourth Test between India and England at Old Trafford.
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