Yashasvi Jaiswal To Rohit Sharma: 6 Indian Openers To Score Test Century At The Oval
In the second innings of the 1979 India-England Test played at The Oval, Sunil Gavaskar scored 221 runs from 443 balls as the opening batter in the second innings. (Picture Credit: X/@ICC)
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KL Rahul scored 149 runs from 224 balls for Virat Kohli-led Team India in the second innings of the Oval Test played against England in 2018. (Picture Credit: AFP)
Rohit Sharma scored 127 runs from 256 balls for India in the second innings of the Oval Test played against England in September 2021. (Picture Credit: AFP)
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Hindustan Times
11 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
Ravindra Jadeja's 3D supremacy hits new peak: rock-solid batter now leads India's fightbacks, not just finishes them
It's not often that two Indian batters have made upwards of 500 runs in a Test series. Before this ongoing skirmish against England, only once previously – in 1971, during their historic tour of the Caribbean – had that feat been achieved, through debutant Sunil Gavaskar (774 runs) and the seasoned Dilip Sardesai (642). London: India's batter Ravindra Jadeja celebrates his half century during the third day of the fifth Test match between India and England(PTI) At Old Trafford last week, KL Rahul (532) helped India replicate that achievement by joining sensational first-time skipper Shubman Gill (754) in the 500-club. On Saturday at The Oval, Ravindra Jadeja became India's third 500-plus batter of the series with a fifth half-century to go with a match-saving unbeaten 107 in Manchester. Jadeja's continued blossoming as a Test batter has been one of the many illuminating storylines of a series most compelling. It took the left-hander a half-dozen years to crack the Test batting code, but once he turned the corner on the tour of England, coincidentally, in 2018, there has been no stopping him. Over the last five Tests, Jadeja has shown stupendous consistency. Saturday was the first time he was dismissed in the second innings; his earlier second-innings scores weren't trifling – 25, 69, 61 and 107. Throw in first-innings half-centuries in Birmingham and at Lord's, and the picture of a hungry, hardly satisfied batter determined to discharge his responsibilities and shepherd a still-inexperienced batting line-up is complete. Until he started to believe in his batting abilities in the five-day game, Jadeja was pretty much a defensive left-arm spinner overseas and a deadly one in helpful home conditions, and an electric all-round fielder who moved like a gazelle, swooped on the ball like an eagle attacking its prey, and threw the orb as if swapping his shoulder for a cannon. Now, he has metamorphosed into the ultimate 3D cricketer – to borrow a term from former chief selector MSK Prasad – whose pre-eminence is evident from his status as the No. 1 all-rounder in Test cricket. Innately intelligent though he hasn't got as much credit for that facet as he should have, Jadeja's watertight defence is his go-to option these days at the start of an innings, when he absorbs pressure like a sponge. His defensive technique has gradually, with plenty of work behind the scenes, gone from passable to excellent. His once-hard hands have developed a lot of 'give' and their softness has allowed him to keep down nasty lifters. In the dressing-room, there is a sense of calm no matter when Jadeja walks out. They know that for the most part, he won't throw his hand away – saying that, he could so easily have been out first ball in Manchester had Joe Root not shelled a simple catch in the second innings – and that there are few better than him in their midst at reading a situation and reacting accordingly. The art of batting alongside tailenders One of Jadeja's great traits is that he doesn't allow himself to get bogged down. In this series, 48.1% of his runs have come in boundaries (53 fours, six sixes), yet his strike-rate is a more-than-acceptable 55.06, which speaks to his ease at rotating strike and ensuring that bowlers aren't able to line up a specific batter. He is adept at batting with the specialists and the all-rounders, but at Lord's, he revealed a new facet – the art of getting the tail to play above itself, something VVS Laxman was outstanding at. Jadeja did farm the strike when he batted alongside Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj after India slumped to 112 for eight while chasing 193 for victory. But he also allowed the two pacers to develop confidence in themselves by not attempting the outrageous in trying to keep the lion's share of the bowling. Bumrah negotiated 54 of the 132 deliveries faced by the ninth-wicket pair, while Siraj's share in the 80-ball last-wicket stand was 30. Batting with bowlers isn't easy, but it is an integral part of the arsenal when one is occupying slots at No. 6 or 7, where Jadeja has spent most of the second part of his Test career. He is now a more complete batter than he ever was, and now that he has been joined in the genuine spin-bowling all-rounders' band by the exceptional Washington Sundar, India can so easily field Kuldeep Yadav's left-arm wrist-spin on home patch without compromising on the batting depth they so desperately crave. It's sometimes easy to forget, given how lithely athletic he is and how lightly the years sit on him, that Jadeja will turn 37 in four months' time. He has been an under-sung, if not unsung, Indian hero for long, but especially with his recent batting exploits, he is getting his place in the sun. Finally. And deservedly.
The Hindu
11 minutes ago
- The Hindu
McLaughlin-Levrone, Russell book World Championship berths at US trials
Olympic champions Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and Masai Russell produced convincing wins at the US trials in Oregon to punch their tickets to the athletics World Championships on Saturday. McLaughlin-Levrone, the two-time Olympic 400m hurdles champion and golden girl of American track, stormed to victory in the 400m flat as she targets a new world title at Tokyo in September. Russell, the Olympic 100m hurdles champion, was similarly impressive, with a flawless performance delivering victory in 12.22secs at Eugene's Hayward Field. But while Paris Olympics gold medallists McLaughlin-Levrone and Russell delivered, there was an upset in the men's 1,500m, where Olympic champion Cole Hocker finished in third. McLaughlin-Levrone signalled she could well be in the hunt for gold in Tokyo after blasting to victory in 48.90secs, taking the tape ahead of Isabella Whittaker (49.59secs) and Aaliyah Butler in 49.91 secs. 'I felt like this is the year I wanted to step out of the box and really push myself in a different way,' McLaughlin-Levrone said of her decision to switch to 400m. 'Obviously it's uncomfortable, but I wanted to commit to it and I'm committed to it. Just excited to see where I can push myself,' she told AFP. Russell, who achieved a breakthrough major title with gold in Paris last year, will be the woman to beat in Tokyo on Saturday's evidence. The 25-year-old executed flawlessly to come home ahead of Grace Stark (12.31) and Alaysha Johnson (12.36). Russell started this season in prime form, clocking a US record 12.17secs in May before an ankle injury threatened to derail her season. ALSO READ | Murali Sreeshankar continues strong form with win at Qosanov Memorial in Almaty However she looked back to her best in Saturday's win. 'I could have shut down my season two months ago when I couldn't walk. But I was like 'This is the goal',' Russell said. 'Winning the Olympics put a little bit more pressure on me. Because I feel I have a standard to uphold. People expect something from the reigning Olympic champion,' she added. Hocker upset A thrilling battle in the men's 1,500m saw Olympic champion Hocker upstaged by Kenyan-born Jonah Koech. Hocker found himself boxed in with 200 to go, and despite a strong finishing kick, was unable to reel in Koech and second-place Ethan Strand. Koech won in a time of 3min 30.17sec, ahead of Strand in 3:30.25. Hocker was third in 3:30.37. 'Winning was not the number one priority today, but I'm not gonna lie -- it always stinks a little not to,' Hocker said. 'I think if today was a world final, I'd have run that race a lot differently. In the back of my head today, above all, above winning was to move on and get top three,' he added. Elsewhere on Saturday, Olympic 400m hurdles champion Rai Benjamin eased into Sunday's final with a comfortable victory in the heats. Benjamin never looked in danger on his way to winning his heat in 47.45secs, the fastest time of qualifying. In the men's 400m, Jacory Patterson advanced to Tokyo with a win in 44.16secs, the latest milestone of his fairytale journey to elite sprinting. The 25-year-old juggled his athletic career with a job working an overnight shift loading delivery trucks for UPS until recently, working his final shift in June. 'I'm waiting for someone to pinch me. I don't know, it just feels like a dream,' Patterson said afterwards.
Time of India
11 minutes ago
- Time of India
India Test skipper Shubman Gill completes 6000 international runs in his career
Shubman Gill crossed the 6000-run milestone in international cricket during the fifth Test match against England. While he managed to score just 11 runs in the second innings at The Oval, his overall career now has an impressive tally of 18 centuries and 25 half-centuries. Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Indian Test captain Shubman Gill on Saturday completed 6000 international runs during the third day of the fifth and final Test match of the ongoing Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy 2025, which is being played at the Kennington Oval in the second innings of the ongoing Oval Test, Shubman Gill scored just 11 runs of nine balls, which was laced by two boundaries. With this knock, the cricketer touched the 6000-run mark in his cricketing has scored 6000 runs in 113 matches at an average of 46.15 and a strike rate of 79.88 with the help of 18 tons and 25 half-centuries. His highest score of his career is 269 against England, which came in the second Test of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy 2025 against the ODIs, the right-hand batter slammed 2775 runs in the 55 matches at an average of 59.04 and a strike rate of 99.56, which came with the help of eight centuries and 15 fifties with a best score of the Tests, the 25-year-old player has smashed 2647 runs in the 67 innings he has played so far at an average of 41.35 and a strike rate of 61.42 with a best score of 269. In the longest format of the game, he has managed to score nine hundreds and seven T20Is, Gill has scored 578 runs in the 21 matches at an average of 30.42 and a strike rate of 139.27 with the help of three fifties and one century with a highest score of 126*.With this 11-run knock, Gill became the second player with the second-most runs in a single Test series by an Indian cricketer, which is 754. The first in the list is legendary batter Sunil Gavaskar, who scored 774 against West Indies during the 1971 Test other names in this list were Gavaskar once again (732 runs against West Indies), Indian opener Yashasvi Jaiswal (712 runs against England), and former India skipper Virat Kohli (692 runs against Australia).With this knock, Gill also became the second most run-getter as a skipper in a single series, as he scored 754 runs in the eight innings of the Test series. The first in the list is former Australian cricketer Don Bradman, who scored 810 runs against England in the 1936/37 Test other captains to achieve the same landmark are Graham Gooch (752 against India), Gavaskar (732 runs against West Indies) and David Gower (732 against England).
