Recalling “the wall,” Shubman Gill remained at the wicket, faced 119 deliveries without hitting a boundary, and forged a solid 72-run partnership with rookie Dhruv Jurel to lead India to a superb five-wicket triumph over England in the fourth Test at Ranchi.
India ended the ‘Bazball’ storm and won the series 3-1, their seventeenth consecutive Test series victory at home.
India quickly reached 84 without losing until the English spinners took over and destroyed the top order under Rohit Sharma at 120-5.
England’s spinner Shikhar Bastar’s 3-79 and five wickets in the first innings proved to be in vain as his side was unable to contain 192 runs in the second innings.
Joe Root’s brilliant effort helped England, who had elected to bat first, amass 353 runs in their opening innings. The hosts, facing the Indian contingent with Shoaib Bashir and Tom Hartley, could manage only 307 runs thanks to Dhruv Jurel’s 90-run innings and Jaiswal’s 73. India lacked pace mainstay Jasprit Bumrah with the ball, but rookie Akash Deep did everything in his power to galvanize the team in the first half.
In the second innings, the Indian spinners made amends by limiting the three lions to just 145 thanks to Ashwin’s excellent five-for and Kuldeep Yadav’s four wicket haul.
In the second innings, Rohit Sharma scored a great fifty-five runs at the bat for India before falling victim to Tom Hartley after a solid opening stand between the openers.
Another strong innings of 39 runs by Jurel gave India the momentum they needed to win the series spectacularly.
Dharmsala will host the final Test match.
