Shubman Gill and Dhruv Jurel’s unbeaten stand of 72, helps India seal the five-match Series for India.
With the hosts 40-0, needing a further 150 runs to win, the onus was on England to take early wickets, to stand any chance of pulling off an unlikely victory.
On the other hand, England knew they needed early wickets, to stand any chance of an unlikely victory.
Rohit Sharma began the day with attacking intent.
Embed from Getty ImagesYashasvi Jaiswal also played some shots.
Embed from Getty ImagesBut just as they were taking the game away from England, Joe Root got the wicket of Jaiswal at 84-1, courtesy of a great catch by James Anderson.
Embed from Getty ImagesThe Indian captain made his way to 50 of 66 balls.
Embed from Getty ImagesBut at 99-2, he was stumped by Ben Foakes off Tom Harley, who comprehensively beat him in the air.
Embed from Getty ImagesHowever, Gill and Jadeja consolidated india’s innings as they got to Lunch at 118-3 at Lunch.
Embed from Getty ImagesSo, even though the game was firmly in India’s hands, could England nip out a few more wickets to unsettle the nerves in the Indian dressing room?
Well, they were gifted another wicket, when Jadeja hit a full toss from Shoaib Bashir straight to Jonny Bairstow at short mid-wicket, at 120-4.
Embed from Getty ImagesThis was a real boost for England, who knew that a few more wickets, may give them a glimmer of hope of pulling off an unlikely victory.
Bashir increased England’s hopes by getting Sarfaraz Khan of the very next ball, 120-5.
Embed from Getty ImagesBut Jurel calmed the nerves of the dressing room with some lovely shots.
Embed from Getty ImagesAnd Shubman Gill got them closer with some big shots.
Embed from Getty ImagesHe brought up his sixth Test fifty with a six.
Embed from Getty ImagesAnd Jurel fittingly hit the winning runs, to take India to a record 17th consecutive home series victory.
Embed from Getty ImagesA dejected England Captain took heart in the way that his team fought through the match.
“When India have a sniff in conditions like that, any team is going to find it hard to not only keep the scoreboard ticking but rotate the strike. You’ve got to give them a lot of credit for the way in which they bowled in very favourable conditions. On this occasion, their skill was better than ours.”
Stokes: BBC Sport
He also credited his bowlers for making them stay alive in the match.
“We took wickets in clusters, and even with 30 runs left we knew that if we went ‘bang, bang’ all the pressure was back on India,” “I still believed we could win the game.”
Stokes
England’s spin bowling duo of Hartley and Bashir were the two bright sparks for England, who would have learnt an awful lot in bowling on Indian pitches.
“Before a ball was bowled in this series, there were a lot of question marks around the two selections,” “They’ll be able to leave at the end of this tour with their heads held very high. We’ve got more exciting talent which is a great thing for English cricket.”
Stokes
Meanwhile, the Indian captain was extremely proud of his team’s performance throughout the Series.
“It has been a very hard-fought series,” “To come out on the right side after four Tests feels really good. I am really proud. A lot of challenges have been thrown at us but we responded pretty well.”
Sharma: BBC Sport
There is now a 10-day break before the final Test in Dharamsala on 7th March, and there is no doubt that Stokes and Bazball will want to leave India’s shores on a high.
Can the win in the final Test, or will India Make it 4-1?
Image Credit: Deposit Photos