 "Ravindra Jadeja celebrates after completing his century while Washington Sundar applauds his teammate on Day 5 of the fourth Test between India and England in Manchester. Reuters")
The Indian batters produced a fightback for the ages on the last two days of the fourth Test against England in Manchester and keep the five-match series alive heading into the series finale at The Oval starting Thursday.
England were staring at the prospect of clinching the series a game to spare after posting a mammoth 669 thanks to Joe Root and Ben Stokes’ centuries and later reducing India to 0/2 with Chris Woakes getting rid of Yashasvi Jaiswal and Sai Sudharsan in the first over.
Captain Shubham Gill (103) and KL Rahul (90), however, had come to India’s rescue on Day 4 with an unbroken 174-run stand. And after both batters departed in quick succession in the morning session of Day 5 at Old Trafford , it was the turn of spin-bowling all-rounders Ravindra Jadeja (107 not out) and Washington Sundar (101 not out) to stand tall and defy the Englishmen.
Jadeja and Sundar shine bright on Day 5
Jadeja and Sundar not only steadied the hosts after India found themselves at a precarious 222/4 following Gill’s dismissal off Jofra Archer’s bowling, they ended up forging an unbroken 203-run partnership for the fifth wicket that had England captain Ben Stokes himself walking up and offering a draw at the start of the final hour of the final day.
And Stokes and his teammates weren’t too pleased when the two Indian all-rounders turned down their offer , only to shake hands shortly after, just so they could bring up their centuries.
Not only was the Indian team felicitated on social media for their heroics with the bat towards the end of the Manchester Test, there were also those criticising the hosts for the way they acted in the final minutes of what turned out to be another riveting contest between these two teams.
Here are select reactions:
Impact Shorts
More ShortsThe two teams return to London where the fifth Test between England and India gets underway after a short turnaround. India will be eyeing a second consecutive 2-2 draw on English soil, although this time they will be the ones drawing level should they end up on the winning side at The Oval.