'Rohit Sharma cares deeply, even if he doesn’t always show it in the same way as Virat Kohli': Former England captain Nasser Hussain

India are in command of the fourth Test against England in Ranchi and on the cusp of taking an unassailable lead in the five-match series. Going into the fourth day’s play, India need 152 runs more to chase down the 192 run target.

A day prior, India had put themselves in ascendancy by dismissing the visitors for 145 runs with R Ashwin taking five wickets and Kuldeep Yadav four. Ravindra Jadeja got the the other as Indian spinners did the damage to England’s chances of forcing a decider in the fifth Test in Dharamsala.

India played two seamers in the fourth Test - Mohammed Siraj and Akash Deep - but with the seamers making serious inroads, Siraj bowled just three overs and Akash Deep didn’t even get a chance.

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Former England captain Nasser Hussain lauded India skipper Rohit Sharma and his strategy of bringing Ashwin on early.

“Rohit Sharma got it spot on when he opened the bowling with Ravichandran Ashwin, after delaying his entry for too long in the first innings at Rajkot. That allowed Duckett, who has struggled against Ashwin, to get off to a flyer, and Rohit wasn’t going to make that mistake again,” he wrote in his column for The Daily Mail.

“People have been saying Ashwin has had a quiet series, but this game has been a reminder that you don’t keep a great cricketer down. Root proved as much in England’s first innings, and Ashwin underlined the point in their second.

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“You could see the fire in his eyes when Rohit gave him the new ball: he was determined to stamp his class on the series. He even treated us to a carrom ball to get rid of Foakes.

“That’s what impresses me about this Indian team. You can have all the talent in the world, but unless you have that deep competitive instinct, that will to win, you risk coming up short. But even without the aggression of Virat Kohli, and the class of Jasprit Bumrah, you can tell how much they wanted it here.

“Rohit cares deeply, even if he doesn’t always show it in the same way as Kohli, and on the third day India showed their character as well as their class.”

Hussain acknowledged the 76-run stand between Dhruv Jurel and Kuldeep Yadav proved decisive in the game being snatched away from England’s grasp. From potentially taking a 100-run-plus lead at one stage, Jurel partnered with Kuldeep and then Akash Deep to bring that deficit down to 46 runs.

The former England captain added that momentum shifted squarely when Ashwin dismissed Ben Duckett and Ollie Pope on successive balls.