Ranchi (Jharkhand) [India]: With India scripting a five-wicket win over England in the fourth Test, skipper Rohit Sharma lauded youngsters for showing composure throughout the series in the absence of key players including Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant and Mohammed Shami and said their performances will help them have a fine Test career.
Indian youngsters Shubman Gill and Dhruv Jurel’s remarkable effort with the bat took the hosts across the finishing line and clinched the series with a five-wicket victory in the fourth Test against England on
Monday. India holds an unassailable series lead of 3-1, with one game to go.
Rohit said in the post-match presentation that the series has been well-fought with plenty of challenges, but the team, particularly the youngsters, displayed immense composure and lauded them for their hard work.
“It has been a very hard-fought series without a doubt and to come on the right side of it at the end of four Test matches feels really good. I am really proud of everyone in the dressing room. They were a lot of challenges thrown at us but I thought we responded pretty well. We had different challenges in different Test matches and I thought we were quite composed in what we wanted to achieve and what we wanted to do on the field, I am very happy,” said the skipper.
“It (the performance by young players) clearly tells me they want to be here, all the hard work they have done in the past, coming up playing domestic cricket and performing there, coming here it is a big challenge but when I look at them, talk to them and the responses that I get from them are quite encouraging. My and Rahul Bhai’s job is to give them the environment they want to be in, so that they do not feel too much about going out there and getting the job done. They want to get the job done but there is no point to keep talking about it or reminding them about it because they are very clear about what they want to do,” said Rohit.
The skipper lauded Dhruv Jurel for his knocks of 90 and 39* that helped India make a comeback into the game from pressure situations, saying that he, along with Shubman Gill, showed a lot of maturity in the second innings. Rohit said that it is not easy to fill up the shoes of star players but with their performances, youngsters have given themselves a platform for a long Test career.
“Jurel playing his second Test showed solid composure, calmness and he has the shots as well to play all around the wicket. The first innings of 90 was very crucial for us to get close to that England’s total and again, in the second innings, he showed a lot of maturity, and composure, along with Gill. It is not pleasing when you miss your key players, but you can do nothing as a group. Those guys are proven players in every condition and to come in and fill their shoes was not easy for these guys. There was pressure from the outside, not inside, but I thought they responded very well to all the situations. When you make a mark like that, it holds you in good position to have a long career,” said the skipper.
Rohit said that such performances will motivate youngsters to do well whenever the opportunity presents itself.
“Performances like this will motivate them and make sure that whenever the opportunity comes, they are ready for it. We turn up for every test wanting to win, no matter what has happened in the past. Obviously, this has been a great series but we want to make sure we turn up for that (Dharamsala Test) game and put our best foot forward. Some of these guys were not used to playing a 5-match series but they have shown a lot of calmness and composure. I am confident we will put up the same show as the last three Test matches,” said the skipper.
Coming to the match, England chose to bat first and put up 353 runs in their first innings, driven by a comeback century by their premier batter Joe Root (122* in 274 balls, 10 fours), a half-century from Ollie Robinson (58 in 96 balls, with nine fours and a six) and Ben Foakes (47 in 126 balls, with four boundaries and a six). Ravindra Jadeja (4/67) and Akash Deep (3/83) were the top bowlers for India.
India were bundled out for 307 in their first innings in reply to England’s first-inning total of 353. Despite Yashasvi Jaiswal (73 in 117 balls, with eight fours and a six) firing once again, India were left struggling at 219/7. It was wicketkeeper-batter Dhruv Jurel (90 in 149 balls, with six fours and four sixes) who joined forces with Kuldeep (28 in 131 balls) to stitch a 76-run stand for the eighth wicket and India managed to score above 300 runs. Spinner Shoaib Bashir troubled Indian batters and took a five-wicket haul (5/119).
Tom Hartley (3/68) and James Anderson (2/48) were also great with the ball. India trailed by 46 runs.
In their second inning, England was bundled out for just 145 runs, with Zak Crawley (60 in 91 balls, with seven fours) and Jonny Bairstow (30 in 42 balls, with three fours) offering some fight. Spinners took all the 10 wickets for India, with Ravichandran Ashwin (5/51) and Kuldeep Yadav (4/22) leading the bowlers.
India has a task of 192 runs for victory. The hosts were off to a fine start, with skipper Rohit Sharma (55 in 81 balls, with five fours and a six) and Yashasvi Jaiswal (37 in 44 balls, with five fours) putting on a 84-run opening stand. But another fine effort by Bashir (3/79) saw India slip to 120/5. It was Shubman Gill (52* in 124 balls, with two sixes) and Dhruv Jurel (39* in 77 balls, with two fours) who guided India to win the Test by five wickets and clinch the series.
