This was Bazball’s darkest hour and India’s merry song. This was the triumph of youth and resilience, as a team bereft of several frontline players trampled all over a quality opponent. India’s 434-run victory on the fourth day of the third Test in Rajkot was their biggest-ever in terms of runs. They did it without Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Mohammed Shami, Rishabh Pant, and with Ravichandran Ashwin barely contributing with the ball in this game.
A few performances stood out – centuries from Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja in the first innings, Mohammed Siraj’s four wickets and Kuldeep Yadav’s superb spell yesterday, and Yashasvi Jaiswal’s scintillating double-hundred and Jadeja’s five-for (5-41) on the final day. Overall, it was a fantastic team effort.
India are good at raising their game in adversity. Brisbane saw that three years ago. Rajkot witnessed it over the course of four days in the third Test. The whole team stood up to be counted. Jaiswal, who is scoring double-centuries for fun at the moment, was the poster boy.
Bazball seemingly has no middle ground. It’s either glory or bust with the approach. And England did go bust in their second innings, getting bundled out for 122 in 39.4 overs, chasing 557 runs for victory. Just one big defeat doesn’t a paradigm make, and England have been brilliantly competitive in this series. But this might force them to go back to the drawing board, with no positives to take from the hammering.
Wickets fell like ninepins, as England batted in their second innings. At one point they were in danger of getting bowled out for less than 100. More on that later though, for Jaiswal deserves a special mention.
The day started with the hosts on 196-2. The first hour was important from India’s point of view, as regards to batting England out of the game, and Shubman Gill and nightwatchman Kuldeep carried on untroubled. Gill looked set for his second hundred on the spin, but fell prey to a mix-up. He was just nine runs short of his century.
Jaiswal had retired hurt on Saturday evening due to back spasms. He returned to the crease and never looked to be getting out. The 150 came off 193 balls and then the left-hand batter decided to up the ante. An audacious falling lap off James Anderson attested to the irreverence of youth. And in Anderson’s next over, young Jaiswal took the veteran to the cleaners, hitting three consecutive sixes. By then, England were resigned to their fate and Jaiswal’s double-hundred looked a formality, which eventually came in 232 balls, via a six off Joe Root. He became one of the youngest players to score two double-centuries in Tests, rubbing shoulders with the likes of Don Bradman and Graeme Smith.
Jaiswal remained unbeaten on 214 off 236 balls, hitting 14 fours and a staggering 12 sixes. A new star is on the block and the Indian team is revelling in his consistency. “Whenever I’m set, I’m just trying to make it big,” said the affable 22-year-old Jaiswal at the post-match presentation.
IND vs ENG | 3rd Test: Post Match Live https://t.co/YiP73RZmCP
— Boria Majumdar (@BoriaMajumdar) February 18, 2024
Spare a thought for Sarfaraz Khan, the debutant, who scored another half-century and remained not out on 68 off 72 balls. The two young men from the Mumbai maidans put on an unbroken stand of 172 runs for the fifth wicket, as India declared on 430-4. For the first time in a couple of years, since the inception of Bazball, a team declared against England.
And the visitors looked jaded when they batted in their second innings. Ben Duckett ran himself out. Zak Crawley was out leg-before against Jasprit Bumrah on umpire’s call, a decision the opener didn’t like and seemingly made it known to umpire Kumar Dharmasena. Ollie Pope thick-edged a Jadeja delivery to Rohit at slip. Jonny Bairstow missed the sweep against Jadeja and was trapped plumb in front.
Root became Jadeja’s third victim, another LBW on umpire’s call. Kuldeep accounted for Ben Stokes and that was that for England. Jadeja returned to dismiss Ben Foakes and Mark Wood to complete his five-for. He virtually bowled on one leg in the first innings, still carrying a niggle and struggling to complete his action. The all-rounder played through pain and found a nice rhythm in the second essay. On his home patch, Jadeja had a match haul of 7-92, on top of his 112 in the first innings. The player-of-the-match award was well deserved.
As for England and Bazball, their turnaround time is less than a week, with the fourth Test starting in Ranchi from February 23. There’s probably a lesson in defeat – you can’t play just one way against world-class opponents.
