Cricket commentary has lost a bit of cutting edge these days. It now revels in being politically correct. In this day and age of social media, even legendary former cricketers are hesitant to speak their mind on air. Sai Sudharsan was lucky that Geoffrey Boycott wasn’t a commentator when he got out for a golden duck in the second innings at Old Trafford. The manner of his dismissal would have certainly angered the great Yorkshireman to the extent of bringing out his irritated best of the 2014 vintage. Clippings are still available to confirm how Boycott had refused to mince his words after the dismissal of an Indian opener at The Oval. Gautam Gambhir, the current India head coach, is on hand if Sai wants to hear the story.
It’s difficult to get out to Chris Woakes on flat pitches, when the ball is hardly doing anything. India lost two in consecutive deliveries to the England seamer. Yashasvi Jaiswal closed the face of the bat a little too early to get an outside edge to Joe Root at first slip to a delivery that had angled in. Sai perished next ball by hanging his bat out to an innocuous ball that was apparently too harmless to account for a top-order scalp. It was a tailender’s dismissal.
India were 0/2 in their second innings after England were all-out for 669, taking a 311-run first-innings lead. An innings defeat loomed and a fourth-day finish appeared to be on the cards. During a changeover, the stump mic caught Harry Brook questioning the Indian batsmen’s ability to play swing and asking KL Rahul to “hurry up” and “finish things off” quickly. The Indian opener wasn’t ready to throw in the towel yet. He, along with Shubman Gill, decided to fight in a losing cause. In a Test where almost everything went horribly wrong for India, the fight shown by Rahul and Gill was a positive takeaway.
They remained unseparated until stumps, adding 174 runs, and consuming 282 minutes and 377 balls. At close on Day 4, Rahul was batting on 87, with Gill giving him company on 78. India still trail by 137 runs and England remain overwhelming favourites to win the game. The tourists will have to bat out three more sessions on a Day 5 pitch to save the Test – not impossible but almost improbable for this batting line-up. No one in this team comes even close to VVS Laxman or Rahul Dravid’s skillset. But so far, Rahul and Gill have refused to budge.
Earlier, resuming on an overnight score of 77, Ben Stokes reached his 14th Test hundred early on Day 4 to follow a five-for. The five-for came after eight years. The century drought had a shorter span – just two years. During the course of his 141 off 198 balls, the England captain also became only the third cricketer, after Sir Garfield Sobers and Jacques Kallis, to score 7,000 runs and take 200 wickets in Tests. By the time he got out, England had run India ragged.
Stokes, severely cramped and hobbling, hasn’t bowled yet during India’s second innings, which worked to the advantage of Rahul and Gill. But the duo should be credited for showing character and resolve. The job is only half-done though.
Brief scores: India 358 and 174/2 (KL Rahul 87 batting, Shubman Gill 78 batting; Chris Woakes 2/48) vs England 669 (Ben Stokes 141; Ravindra Jadeja 4/143)
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