Credit: BCCI
On Sunday, July 27, the Indian cricket team earned a famous draw in the fourth Test at Old Trafford in Manchester, to keep themselves alive in the five-match series, which England lead 2-1 for the newly minted Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy. After conceding a first innings lead of 311 runs, India batted for more than four sessions, losing just four wickets for 425 runs in 143 overs, on the back of KL Rahul, captain Shubman Gill, Ravindra Jadeja, and Washington Sundar, to avoid defeat.
At the start of day five, India began their second innings with the overnight score of 174/2 in 63 overs with KL Rahul and Shubman Gill at the crease with fifties next to their name. They managed to bat for the first 45 minutes of the first session on day five before KL Rahul lost his wicket to Ben Stokes on a delivery which trapped him in front of the stumps due to lack of bounce, but at this point, he had scored 90 off 230 with eight fours.
After the 188-run stand for the third wicket between KL Rahul and Shubman Gill was broken, the Indian captain brought up his ninth Test hundred in 228 balls, taking a single on the bowling of Chris Woakes to reach the milestone moment. But, shortly after, with just a few minutes remaining until lunch break, Indian captain fiddled at the wider line delivery from Jofra Archer, nicking it through to the wicketkeeper Jamie Smith, to lose his wicket for 103 off 238 with 12 fours.
It led to the arrival of Ravindra Jadeja at the crease, with Washington Sundar relatively new to the middle at the other end, and on his first ball, the left-handed batter nicked the ball from Jofra Archer straight to Joe Root at first slip, who dropped it uncharacteristically. What followed was a batting masterclass from two of India’s top all-rounders in Test cricket, batting out the second session without losing their wicket, to put India in a position to draw the game after wiping out the 311-run deficit.
In the third and final session on day five, Jadeja and Sundar kept the momentum going, to take the sting out of England’s bowling attack before guiding the team to the last hour with 15 overs remaining in the Manchester Test. Ben Stokes offered them the chance to shake his hand to call off the contest, but the Indian all-rounders decided to continue batting in their pursuit of their respective 100s, which angered the England captain.
A few overs later, Ravindra Jadeja brought up his fifth Test hundred before Washington Sundar achieved his maiden Test hundred, both on the bowling of Harry Brook, following which both teams shaked hands, agreeing to a drawn Test match at Old Trafford. Jadeja and Sundar’s unbeaten fifth wicket stand had reached 203 runs before the contest was called off, and for his all-round exploits, Ben Stokes was declared the player of the match (POTM).
