India captain Shubman Gill set his sights on a tied series with England after his team dug deep to frustrate Ben Stokes’ troops in a drawn fourth Test at Emirates Old Trafford.
Having posted 358 to open the match, India saw England rack up 669 in their own first innings, powered largely by superb centuries from Joe Root (150) and Stokes (141) after the opening pair of Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett put on 166 for the first wicket.
The tourists were then reeling on 0-2 in their second innings, with batsman Rishabh Pant also struggling – and likely to be ruled out of the fifth Test – thanks to a fractured foot suffered on day one.
Steadying the ship
Gill (103) continued his fine form to turn things around and found an ally in opener KL Rahul (90), with the duo leading their side to 188-3.
Washington Sundar (101no) and Ravindra Jadeja (107no) also went on to blunt England’s bowling attack as the visitors closed on 425-4.
With the game drifting towards a draw in the closing stages of day five, Stokes had offered a handshake to the India pair, but they refused and carried on in pursuit of their tons.
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Captain extremely pleased
Gill was delighted to see Sundar and Jadeja become centurions and told Sky Sports: “I am extremely pleased with our batting effort the last couple of days.
“We were put under a lot of pressure but the way we responded, especially after losing two early wickets, was a very brave effort.
“It was all about taking the wicket out of it. You just want to play ball by ball and take the game deep.
“We have learnt a lot from the four Tests and hopefully we can draw the series.”
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Stokes’ high five
Stokes, meanwhile, was left with a sense of frustration in a Test match where he personally achieved a five-wicket haul and a long-awaited ton.
The England captain, who was named Player of the Match, told Sky Sports: “When you have a good game as an all-rounder, you assess how that goes by the result, and I would give those all back if we had won.
“I will always try and give everything I possibly can. I ask the guys to run through a brick wall for the team, and I will always do the same and try to lead by example.
“Bowling and being out in the field is tough and I am pretty sore!
“It’s a workload thing to be honest. I have got through a fair amount of overs and things creep upon you, but I will keep going.
“As I say to all the bowlers, pain is only an emotion.”
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Jamie Overton returns
The fifth Test takes place at the Kia Oval, starting on Thursday, and England have recalled Jamie Overton to a 15-man squad for the series decider.
Overton’s return is the only change to the squad for the hosts, who saw Joe Root’s historic knock of 150 move him into second among the all-time leading Test run-scorers.
Root now only sits behind India legend Sachin Tendulkar.
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