England lead the five-match Test series 2-1.
England began Day 4 of the fifth Test needing 324 runs with nine wickets in hand. Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna struck gold in the first hour, with crucial wickets of Ben Duckett and captain Ollie Pope. However, since then, it was all England. Joe Root and Harry Brook came together to stitch a wonderful partnership for the hosts. They took the game away from the visitors. If England go on to win this Test, the partnership between Root and Brook will be a major point of discussion for Shubman Gill & Co.
ABF
–
SKA
–
SLK
–
BR
–
DCDM
–
DVDM
–
MIEDM
–
GGDM
–
SWDM
–
ADKRDM
–
GGDM
–
DCDM
–
NDT
–
CDK
–
SDS
–
WDL
–
PD
–
CDK
–
TBC
–
TBC
–
ROM
–
CZR
–
ROM
–
CZR
–
ROM
–
CZR
–
AUST
–
BEL
–
AUST
–
BEL
–
BAC
–
UCCB
–
LKLS
–
ACB
–
UCCB
–
ACB
–
BAC
–
UCCB
–
LKLS
–
ACB
–
DURH
–
BB
–
NOR
–
MID
–
KENT
–
SOM
–
ESS
–
GLO
–
SUSS
–
YOR
–
LEI
–
WOR
–
HAM
–
DER
–
NOT
–
SURR
–
QAT
–
KNY
–
PNG
–
KWT
–
JER
–
DEN
–
GER-W
–
IRE-W
–
ITA-W
–
NED-W
–
KRMPS
–
SBSCC
–
BNC
–
KUMS
–
CAGS
–
ATR
–
KBTS
–
ARKS
–
ARKS
–
TTS
–
ALRS
–
ATR
–
BNB
–
MGD
–
SML
–
MYW
–
SML
–
HBT
–
MGD
–
GBM
–
YSG
–
ROS
–
MAT
–
RNC
–
RNC
–
ROS
–
MUT
–
IAI
–
AUS
–
SA
–
IPS
–
TMB
–
SBB
–
WSS
–
SGR
–
WYN
–
RLS
–
SSC
–
GCT
–
UOQ
–
NSBB
–
VLLY
–
NSBB
–
GCT
–
WEF
–
TRR
–
MAO
–
BIP
–
OVI
–
LOS
–
WFW-W
–
TRW-W
–
MOW-W
–
BIP-W
–
OIW-W
–
LSW-W
–
TBC
–
TBC
–
TBC
–
TBC
–
TBC
–
TBC
–
MEMA
–
NOSK
–
KARS
–
LUF
–
KASS
–
MEMA
–
KARS
–
GOLS
–
India seemed in control after the first hour of the day. But Siraj’s misjudgement might have cost them some important runs. The pacer caught Brook down on the boundary, but stepped on the rope to give England’s white-ball skipper a lifeline. Brook looked in tremendous touch before the dropped chance, and has taken his game to another level after the incident.
However, one of the most talked-upon topics on the fourth day was the holding back of spinners from Shubman Gill. Washington Sundar bowled just a couple of overs in the second session on Day 4. To add to that, only two overs of spin were bowled in the first 52 overs of the fourth innings. This did not sit well with some of the fans, who were not afraid of voicing their opinions on social media. Some of these fans took to their X (formerly Twitter) handles to express their disagreement towards the spinners being held back.
ALSO READ:
One of the reasons for Gill to hold back his spinners might be the nature of the pitch. There seems to be no help for the spinners on the wicket as the pacers have done almost all the hard work in the match. But the fans felt that with runs coming easily for England, Gill could have used a ploy in trusting his spinners a bit more to break the all-important partnership between Brook and Root.
Here are some of the fan reactions after the Indian skipper’s lack of trust in spin bowling after Siraj and Prasidh scalped a couple of wickets in the first session.
For more updates, follow CricXtasy on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Telegram, and YouTube.
