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The National
15 minutes ago
- Sport
- The National
England's Ben Stokes and India's Gautam Gambhir race to the bottom in the moral high ground stakes
Hold the front page: a series between India and England has got all spiteful. It didn't take long, of course. There was the finger wagging and verbals when Zak Crawley staged his late evening go-slow at Lord's. Mohammed Siraj talked and nudged his way on to the naughty step in the same game. Now the captains and coaches are having a pop with the series on the line. You love to see it. Lacking grace Seeing your team take four wickets in 143 overs – or just two in 142, as it turned out – is enough to make even the most mild-mannered cricketer tired and emotional. And Ben Stokes could never be accused of being that. His decision to try to guilt trip Washington Sundar out of a maiden Test century at the end of the fourth Test was misguided. It also meant he ended the game under a cloud despite having scored a century, taken a five-for, and won the player of the match award. Milestones, eh? But, over and above the debate about Sundar and Ravindra Jadeja hanging on till they made tons, there was merit in India staying out to bat the duration. Both teams are weary, and there is a short turnaround till the final Test. Why not stay out there and put even more miles into the legs of England's bowlers? Enter Gambhir After the Stokes handshake shenanigans, India had assumed the moral high ground. Then, in blundered Gautam Gambhir in the race to the bottom. The India coach might be one of the spikiest figures in the recent history of cricket, but he was absolutely within his rights to defend his players at the end of the game at Old Trafford. What was less palatable was his fall out with the Oval groundsman as soon as prep started for the next game. Lee Fortis, a giant of a man who definitely plays the heavy roller to Gambhir's light one, threatened to report India to the match referee as their players swarmed all over his lovely wicket at training. "Groundsman in wanting people to stay off his grass shock" the headline might well have read. 'You have no right to tell us what to do,' Gambhir stropped. 'You are just a groundsman, nothing beyond that. You are just a groundsman.' Lack of Grace Cup final: England 1-1 India. Both barrels 'I just want him to sort of take a chill pill sometimes', Sanjay Manjrekar said of Gambhir, India's Captain Grumpy, after the coach's tetchiness in Manchester. Not all would agree. Another former Indian opener, whose punchiness similarly supersedes his own physical stature, reckons India should keep going full bore. Sunil Gavaskar was always going to be box office after the Old Trafford controversies. The India great-turned-commentator urged Shubman Gill to ask a question himself at the press conference. He said he would have queried why Stokes batted on so long before declaring England's innings. 'I know he will not, he is too nice a guy,' Gavaskar said of Gill. 'He is not like this SG [Gavaskar himself.] That SG [Gill] is different.' The actual cricket While the war of words is gathering pace, the players themselves are actually slowing down. By all reports, Jasprit Bumrah will not be able to nurse his tender back through another Test so quickly after the toils of Manchester. Short of a last-minute switcheroo, his name is likely to be missing from India's XI when Stokes and Gill trade team sheets ahead of the toss in South London. England themselves are walking wounded and the bowling attack is running on fumes. Stokes himself will surely play, after saying that 'pain is just an emotion' after the last Test. Whether Jofra Archer, Chris Woakes and Brydon Carse are all there alongside him seems unlikely.
Daily Mail
4 days ago
- Sport
- Daily Mail
Surely India won't leave out Jasprit Bumrah if series is in the balance? Their greatest match-winner with the ball hasn't stopped being a champion bowler overnight, writes NASSER HUSSAIN
India will have a tricky decision to make if they continue to dig in on the final day at Old Trafford and come away with a creditable draw. Because although they keep saying that Jasprit Bumrah will play only three Tests in this five-match series – and this, don't forget, is his third – the series could still be alive when the teams arrive at The Oval next week. Clearly, if India lose and go 3–1 down, they can give Bumrah and probably Mohammed Siraj, who has played all four games so far, a rest for the final game. But if they escape Manchester only 2–1 down, are they really going to leave out their greatest match-winner with the ball? I know people are saying that India have lost the two games Bumrah has played in and won the one he missed, with Siraj and Akash Deep bowling India to victory in the second Test at Edgbaston. But there are a lot of things that go into losing a game of cricket, and I don't think you can honestly say Bumrah's bowling was one of the causes of the tourists' defeats at Headingley and Lord's. Don't forget, he took a first-innings five-for in both those games, and his overall tally in this series of 14 wickets at 26 is better than any of his colleagues. It's possible that someone like Siraj steps up a bit more in Bumrah's absence, because he's the kind of character who likes to be the leader of the attack. We occasionally saw the same dynamic between Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad, whose most famous spell of eight for 15 against Australia at Trent Bridge in 2015 came when Anderson was out injured. But I honestly think it's a coincidence that India are yet to win a game this summer with Bumrah in their side. So now they may find themselves having to make that big call for the final Test. Ideally, they bring in fresh legs, because it's been a gruelling five-match series, with each of the games so far going to the last day, and the pitches offering the bowlers precious little all the way through. But are you honestly saying you're not going to try to get one final game out of your strike bowler? It's true that in this match, for the first time I can remember, Bumrah didn't make the best use of the new ball, bowling too straight at Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett, when a fifth- or sixth-stump line is where you want to aim against these England batters. It looked as if India were trying to get Duckett lbw, which is an unusual dismissal at Old Trafford because of the bounce. How many have fallen leg-before in this game? One: Shubman Gill to Ben Stokes in India's first innings. And, of course, the stat doing the rounds was that Bumrah had conceded 100 in a Test innings for the first time, in what is his 48th Test. But you always have to bear in mind at Old Trafford that, even when you expect the pitch to go up and down a bit, or deteriorate for the spinners, it rarely becomes a minefield. That's why England got 660 on it. And that's why Test cricket is such a magnificent game: you have to work for your success. India looked dead on their feet when they walked off on Friday evening, but Bumrah recovered pretty well on the fourth morning, relocating his length and bowling Liam Dawson.
Daily Mail
5 days ago
- Sport
- Daily Mail
Dogged Ben Stokes picks restraint over savagery as the perfect foil to Joe Root - as he always does, he gets back up again, writes OLIVER HOLT
It was the first delivery with the new ball that felled Ben Stokes. Mohammed Siraj had waited until the third ball of the over to use it and, as Stokes tried to pull it on to the legside, it struck him amidships. Stokes went down hard and lay at the popping crease, writhing in pain. When the crowd saw the replay on the big screens at either side of Old Trafford, there was a giant groan of collective sympathy. One social media site produced an immediate catalogue of other occasions on which Stokes had been similarly incapacitated and pronounced that, given he had gone on to be player of the match in three of them, this might actually be a good omen. Siraj, never the most sympathetic of opponents, stood over him for a second and looked at him with disdain, as if he were mystified as to why Stokes were making such a fuss. Stokes tried to say something but gave up and allowed himself to recover. Then the England skipper hauled himself back to his feet. One way or another, Stokes always hauls himself back to his feet. And then play resumed. And in what may prove to have been the most important session of this fourth Test, he and Joe Root took the match and the series away from India. This was indisputably Root's day, a day when he passed Rahul Dravid, Jacques Kallis and Ricky Ponting in the ranks of the greatest Test run scorers of all time on his way to a magnificent innings of 150, and now sits behind only Sachin Tendulkar in the pantheon. But part of the joy of what unfolded here in Manchester on Friday was the privilege of watching two England greats, two mates, two captains, two leaders, two wonderful cricketers, at the crease together, working together at a seminal stage of a dramatic series. So the day was a triumph for Stokes, too. If one were to pick a Player of the Series at the end of the third day of this Test match, it would be him. Stokes has led England superbly — he is the series' leading wicket-taker, he took five wickets in India's first innings here and now he has stepped up with the bat, too. England were not exactly in trouble when Stokes came to the crease at 349-4 but they had lost the wickets of Ollie Pope and Harry Brook in quick succession and their prospects of building a big lead over the tourists were starting to dim. Stokes changed that. He played with far more restraint than savagery. He guarded his wicket jealously and allowed Root's elegant carving to do most of the damage. Stokes was content to make sure he stuck around so England could build the defining partnership of this contest. And that is what it became. Stokes scored 14 from his first 38 balls and saw off the challenge of India's spinners, Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar, bowling at him in tandem. When Siraj returned to the visitors' attack, he may have put Stokes down but he did not take him out. Stokes resumed. There were isolated moments of pure atavism. Not long after he had been felled, Stokes danced down the wicket to Anshul Kamboj who was bowling with the new ball, and thrashed it back past him through mid-on for four. Later, he smote a beautiful drive through the covers off Jasprit Bumrah. He clipped a Sundar delivery to mid-wicket for a single after tea to bring up his first half-century of the series and take England to 470-4, a lead of 112. It took him 97 balls to reach his 50. He only hit three boundaries on his way to the landmark, the fewest of any Test 50 he has compiled. It was a sign of his utter determination not to let England's grip on this series slip with victory in sight. Eventually, Stokes began to let loose but an extravagant reverse sweep appeared to set off a bout of cramp that got worse and worse and when he reached 66, his partnership with Root worth 142, he limped back to the pavilion to allow Jamie Smith to take his place. Then he hauled himself back up again. Root was out soon after Stokes had disappeared into the England dressing room and Smith and Chris Woakes were both out cheaply. So, just after 6pm, less than an hour after he had limped off, Stokes strode back out to the middle like Captain Indestructible. There were huge cheers from the steepling temporary stand to Stokes's left as the England captain walked down the stairs and the crowd realised who was coming in. Stokes added another 11 runs to his total to finish the day not out on 77, with England on 544-7. Their lead is 186. It was a masterful innings in its own way, too, a doggedly patient innings, an innings played against type, an innings full of courage and defiance and resolve. By close of play, it was the longest England had batted in a Test innings in this country under the captaincy of Stokes.
Time of India
5 days ago
- Sport
- Time of India
India's day of drift: Flat body language, flatter tactics at Old Trafford
Mohammed Siraj reacts on Day 3 of the fourth Test between England and India at Old Trafford in Manchester. (AP) in Manchester: The last half an hour of the second session aptly summed up India's Day 3 at Old Trafford cricket ground. Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj were feeling some discomfort in their left ankle, Shubman Gill was forced to operate with Shardul Thakur - not Gill's choice as it was KL Rahul who handed over the ball to him when the captain was in the change room for a quick break - and Anshul Kamboj with the second new ball and the body language remained very flat. Karun Nair and Abhimanyu Easwaran kept going in and out of the field as substitute fielders and the rest - Prasidh Krishna, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Akash Deep - ensured that the drinks were loaded and chilled. In the middle of the hapless period, Arshdeep kept the mahaul (environment) light as he urged teammates to clap every time he returned from drinks duties. The mahaul , however, was anything but light in the middle as India put on a listless show with the ball and operated with questionable tactics throughout the day. Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW! From under-bowling Thakur, again, to waiting 68 overs before handing over the ball to Washington Sundar, captain Gill let the game slip away. Even Sundar's drift, which got India two quick wickets of Ollie Pope and Harry Brook, wasn't enough to turn momentum India's way as the rest remained very ordinary. Bumrah ran in hard but his lines remained all over the place, Siraj was erratic & expensive, Anshul Kamboj was a royal disappointment on debut and Thakur wasn't considered. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Indonesia: New Container Houses (Prices May Surprise You) Container House | Search ads Search Now Undo The only period of some control came when the two spinners bowled in tandem and while Ravindra Jadeja too failed to keep it tight, he was in good rhythm with Sundar in that period post the Lunch interval. Joe Root was dismissed after scoring 150 runs on Day 3 of the fourth Test between England and India at Old Trafford in Manchester. (AP) The visitors did delay taking the second new ball due to the control which spinners were enjoying but the moment it was taken in the 91st over and pace was introduced, run-making returned to fluent ways for the hosts who operated in comfortable fashion with the Ben Stokes-Joe Root stand. The right-hander scored another hundred, went past Ricky Ponting's 13,378 Test runs and the Indian shoulders remained down. On a day where there wasn't an overcast cloud in the sky and it remained bright and sunny, India's tactical blunders were exposed as they clearly didn't pick the right attack for the surface. Dry and placid, the 22 yards had some variable bounce on the first two days under clouds but evened out when it baked under the sun. It was then just the case of exhibiting the right temperament and showing patience as enough runs were on offer. India just didn't have the attack to even try a Plan B. Ben Stokes remained unbeaten at close on Day 3 of the fourth Test between England and India at Old Trafford in Manchester. (AP) It was another day of wondering what could have been had the guy wearing a bib - Kuldeep Yadav - was giving the oldish Dukes a rip. It's for days and situations like these that you needed some variation but India's obsession with depth and bits-and-pieces template exposed their trumpet of picking an attack to pick 20 wickets. After the Leeds defeat, where they weren't able to defend 370, India swiftly packed their batting instead of adding a wicket-taking option with the ball. The pitches have remained flat and dry in all four Tests so far but Kuldeep's bib is yet to come off. The preference to batting depth has compromised India's wicket-taking ability and it turned out to be a long day under the sun where the opposition milked runs for fun. When Gill and the rest dragged themselves to the change room, the body language was a true reflection of how the day unfolded for them. The loud sledge from the stand near the stairs did catch a few players' attention but they were too tired to care at the moment. Washington Sundar took two wickets on Day 3 of the fourth Test between England and India at Old Trafford in Manchester. (AP) Head down, they called it a day and even Arshdeep's claps and infectious energy wasn't enough to give the shoulders a lift. India: 358 trail England: 544/7 (Joe Root 150, Ben Duckett 94, Zak Crawley 84, Ben Stokes 77*; Washington Sundar 2/57, Ravindra Jadeja 2/117) by 186 runs. For real-time updates, scores, and highlights, follow our live coverage of the India vs England Test match here. Catch Rani Rampal's inspiring story on Game On, Episode 4. Watch Here!
Time of India
5 days ago
- Sport
- Time of India
IND vs ENG 4th Test: Ricky Ponting shares what would be England's plan on Day 3 against India
Mohammed Siraj reacts during day two of the Fourth Test vs England at Old Trafford (Photo by) India were on the back foot at the end of Day 2 in the fourth Test against England at Old Trafford, Manchester, and former Australia captain Ricky Ponting didn't hold back in his criticism of the visitors' bowling performance. Speaking on Sky Sports Cricket ahead of Day 3, Ponting tore into India's lack of bite with the ball on a day when England's openers put on a commanding 166-run stand. "Now, just thinking about these batting conditions today. I mean, England definitely got the better of it yesterday, and we could see from the morning session to the afternoon just how much the wicket and conditions changed. So, batting conditions probably won't get any better than they are right now," said Ponting on what India can expect on Friday. "We've got two class players at the crease. India need to find a way early today to get themselves back into this game. If they don't take early wickets today, this game is slipping away really, really quickly," he warned. "On a wicket with this sunshine on it today, we saw Jadeja turn a couple late yesterday afternoon. It's not going to get easy to bat on late in this game. So England, I'm sure, would have gone to bed last night thinking about the possibility of only batting once in this Test match. They'll want to bat long today, get through the day, get a huge first innings total." "Not the best thing to listen to if you're an Indian fan, but the fact is that it is very true to what could happen," said the former Australia skipper. India were bowled out for 358 earlier in the day despite a brave effort from Rishabh Pant, who walked in with a fractured toe to score 54 off 75 balls. The wicketkeeper-batter had retired hurt on Day 1 but returned to a standing ovation, adding crucial runs in the lower order. England responded aggressively, reaching 225/2 at stumps in just 46 overs. Openers Ben Duckett (94) and Zak Crawley (84) led the charge before Ravindra Jadeja and debutant Anshul Kamboj finally provided breakthroughs. With Ollie Pope (20*) and Joe Root (11*) unbeaten at the crease, England trailed India by just 133 runs and looked well set to dictate the Test heading into Day 3. For real-time updates, scores, and highlights, follow our live coverage of the India vs England Test match here. Catch Rani Rampal's inspiring story on Game On, Episode 4. Watch Here!
