The Manchester Resurrection

This has been a series of fight and valour from the Indian team...despite many loopholes like retirement of 3 legends and Bumrah not playing all tests they still have fought till their last breath and the last day in each and every test so far...

This test was not any different.There were evident problems with the XI selection and the bowling but India still managed to avoid a series defeat and keep them alive for a crack at the decider by batting their hearts out for 5 sessions.

Gill became the Indian captain and Asian Captain with most 100s on a tour to England[4*] and the Asian batter with most runs in a test series in England[722*]

Rahul became the 2nd Indian opener after Sunil Gavaskar to score 500+ runs in an away test tour[511*].

It has been a series which could go on to settle the debate for The Greatest All-Rounder in cricket with England's Stokes taking more WICKETS in this series than Prime Bumrah [17>14] and Jadeja scoring more runs than the 2nd most successfull batter in test history Joe Root [454>403].

BATTING[1st innings]:

In the 1st innings where India batted first with them losing the toss for the 14th time in a row in international cricket since Jan 2025...started well with a great 94 run stand where Rahul got out for a good-looking 46 to Woakes...then fell Jaiswal caught at slips to a well-crafted Dawson delivery... till then he had became the 1st Indian opener since Sunil Gavaskar to score a 50 at Old Trafford since 1974 where Jaiswal played against his natural game and toiled hard...Karun was one player that looked good in each match he played and still was dropped which was unfortunate in my opinion... this made way for Sai Sudharsan...the classic lefty who then went on to score his 1st Test 50 scoring a gutsy well made 61 untill he fell to Stokes on a bouncer trap which he negated well earlier...Oh...a Pant heroic and fight was something that uplifted this team to fight... coming out to bat for your nation with a broken foot with the 'Spirit of Cricket' merchants throwing yorkers at you was the boost that this Indian team needed...between Pant retiring out and coming back in with flair scoring 54 was the ugly wicket of Captain Gill leaving a delivery that nipped back-in and he was LBW and Jadeja who came in getting out to a Jofra Jaffa on 20...then came in Lord Thakur who with his passion and grit contributed once again with the bat when the team was in need with a 41...then came Pant...who became the difference of India scoring 320 or eventually scoring 358.

The English batting innings was the announcement of the arrival of BAZBALL...with them coming out all guns blazing at the mid of Day 2 disrupting all Indian bowling plans with a partnership of 166 which was eventually broken at the end of 32 overs by losing Crawley on 84 to Jadeja and by the end of Day 2 losing Duckett to debutant Kamboj on 94...then came another massive 144 run partnership between Root and Pope with the latter getting out on 71 to Sundar...then Brook fell early but Stokes and Root were not broken...Root scoring his 12the test ton against India converting it to a 150...Root fell leaving Eng 499-5...Smith fell just for 9 and Woakes for 4...Dawson showed some resistance with his 26 off 65...then England went from 563-8 to 658-9 with Carse and Stokes having a 95 off 96 run partnership...Stokes scoring 144 and Carse with 47 when England were eventually bowled out for a mammoth 669...Had England wanted they could've declared a a tad earlier to force a result out of the game...England took a mammoth 311 run lead with a scintillating batting effort.

Bowling:

The Englsih bowling in the 1st innings looked good with Stokes picking up a 5-fer becoming a player with a 100&5-fer in the same test...Jofra with 3 and Woakes and Dawson with one each...be it their bouncer trap to Sai or Dawson's perfect use of footmarks to get rid of Jaiswal...the bowling effort was great...the pitch with all on offer...had uneven bounce,turned and swung when the balls were pitched on the line of stumps and in the 6-8m channel.

The 2nd English bowling innings started with a banging double wicket maiden getting Jaiswal and Sai for ducks but later turned into their greatest nightmare with an injured and valiant Stokes not able to bowl as much as they wanted which proved to be a point of difference and Dawson bowling 47 overs could still not find a wicket...where India went from 0-2 to 425-4 with the English frustrated and flustered by the end begging for a handshake refused by Jadeja and Sundar...

The Indian bowling innings raised many concerns regarding the team selection as to why are we not focusing on getting 20 WICKETS and focussing on batting depth with Kuldeep yet not selected on a pitch where turn was on offer...Can Bumrah still be at his best after giving his all for the first 2 tests... does his body support him ...where his avg speed dropped to mid 130s but a flustered Bumrah was still a bowler who could get anyone out where he showed returning back to his old self in the early Day 4...something that wasn't seen before was him conceding 100+ runs in international cricket which occurred...Kamboj who was selected for his pace and bounce had an avg speed of just 125-130 and got only a single wicket of Duckett at the end of Day 2...Siraj looked a little off but was getting bounce whenever he bowled stump line...Thakur did not bowl much but went for an economy of 5 in the 11 overs he bowled.A tactical error I thought was introducing Sundar very late in the 68th over...he later went onto pick Pope and Brook with his drift...he extracted the most drift in English conditions since 2007[2.7 degree] which shows his skill and will to perform...The spinners were on a roll with Jadeja picking up a 4-fer...which again begs the question...WHY NOT KULDEEP?England eventually were bowled out for 669 with India conceding 600+ for the 1st time since that match in New Zealand in 2014...where Mccullum scored a triple ton.

THE RESURRECTION:

A team being 0-2 ended up being 425-4 shows what a great team is...a team despite some concerns fights for the nation in an away ground batting out 5 sessions to avoid a series defeat with the 1st 2 batters out on 0 and the latter consisting a 90 and 3 100s...

Gill's counter-attack and then toiling hard is something I would say is his best 100 till now facing uneven bounce,taking body blows and magnificent drives and defense.

KLR's monk-like batting frustrating the hell out of the English bowlers where his resistance eventually ended in the 90s where he was a victim of the uneven bounce.

The INDRAN-INGTON DUO[203-run partnership and 6 wickets between them] shining with both bat and ball scoring 100s and taking crucial wickets.JADEJA proving he is the best.

England's sloppy fielding and catch drops dropping Gill on 46&81 and Jadeja on the very 1st ball of his innings.

The KLR-GILL partnership[188 off 417] is now the highest partnership after a team was 0-2 in test history...Gill getting out knocking a 4-5th stump line ball...then everything again looked tricky..

But Sundar and Jadeja's counter-attack not only made sure we draw the game but made sure that we take a 114-run lead and make the Englishmen beg for a handshake to draw...yes,the Bazball that doesn't play for boring draws...A question I would ask is...if 2 of English batters were in the same situation would they have shook hands?

At the end showed some very lethargic and bad attitude from the whole team and their captain who at first refused to shake hands with Jadeja...No doubt Stokes is a great all-rounder but this wasn't something he himself would be proud off.

England could've tried to not let them score a 100 but instead looked silly with bowling Brook who bowled like a person in gully-cricket...at the end it was a great game of Cricket' with both teams fighting and toiling hard but one showing a tad more grit than the other.

The 5th Test Beckons:

As we head to Oval with things getting heated between the curator and head coach Gambhir who stood up for his staff...

There are some selections I would like to see...seeing India go for 5 proper bowlers would be a treat with getting in Kuldeep in for Shardul and Arshdeep in if Bumrah doesn't play...I certainly hope Bumrah plays but not with the cost of him getting injured.

Dhruv Jurel coming in for Pant would again give the youngster a great chance to show his ability.

India is ready to fight and draw this series...hoping for a 2-2...

Nottingham 2021 prevented us to win the previous series and grabbing the small moments led to the inability this time...but all is not lost and drawing the series with this young team and a young captain would be a great stepping stone.

Both teams will be sore and would be interesting to see their bowling attacks after 4 hard fought tests that went to the last session of the last day.

Lastly,I have to appreciate Stokes who put his body in line this test.