India bats out fourth Test draw against England, Cook and Vaughan lament pitch

Australia Broadcast Center

5 days ago

India has batted out a draw in the fourth Test against England to keep the series alive, but even on a dead pitch at Old Trafford there was still time for fireworks.
Led once again by captain Shubman Gill's 103, the tourists showed great character to secure a hard-fought draw in another run-fest of a Test.
Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar also tonned up on day five, much to the chagrin of English players after they offered to shake hands on a draw with both players in the 80s.
England captain Ben Stokes was clearly upset by India's refusal to accept the draw despite having no shot at victory, and fielders could be heard on stump microphones swearing at the batters as they told them to hurry up while 25-year-old Sundar worked his way to his maiden Test century.
After losing two wickets before they had scored a run in their second innings, India batted for over five sessions for the loss of two more wickets to end the final day on 4-425.
England's dig of 669 had given them a 311-run first-innings lead and a shot at an innings victory with a Test to come, but Gill's courageous hundred — his fourth of the series — and 90 off 230 by KL Rahul set up the series-saving draw.
Gill and Rahul, the leading run-scorers for the series with 722 and 511 respectively, fell in the first session on day five, but Jadeja and Sundar picked up the mantle with a 203-run unbeaten stand to see India home with England bowling part-timers Joe Root and Harry Brook.
"Would they have walked off if someone from England was batting on 90 or 85 and someone has the opportunity to get his first Test hundred?" India coach Gautam Gambhir said.
"Would you allow him to do it? It's up to them, if they want to play that way, that's up to them. I think both those guys deserved a hundred and fortunately they got it."
Player of the match Stokes, who took five wickets in India's first innings and scored 141, said the job was done by Jadeja and Sundar after a "massive" partnership whether they reached their tons or not.
"I don't think there would've been too much more satisfaction from walking off 100 not out, getting your team out of a tricky situation, than walking off at 80 or 90 not out," he said.
Former England quick Steve Harmison said he did not think anyone crossed the line and both batters deserved their chance to reach their milestones.
"It was a little bit farcical towards the end," he told ESPN.
"I think Ben Stokes said to both batters 'do you really want to get a hundred while Harry Brook is bowling?' I think that was tongue in cheek."
Ultimately the match rolled on for a few more overs, with the handshakes inevitably coming after Sundar reached his first Test century on a languid day-five pitch.
"[England] dominated this Test match, but [have] to admit that the wicket won at the end of the day," former England captain Alastair Cook said on BBC.
"We don't want wickets like this, we want them to deteriorate and wickets like this make batting look very easy on day five — we want jeopardy either towards the end or at the start.
"The pitches have been so different from what you usually expect when you come to England because you'd expect lateral movement and there was nothing on this pitch."
One of Cook's predecessors, Michael Vaughan, agreed saying there was "nothing" in the pitch for the bowlers.
"They didn't get anything out of the pitch and it was glaring," he said.
"The frustration will be for England not getting any wickets. The pitch had no lateral movements, there was nothing and it was difficult to get 20 wickets on this pitch."
A closely fought series remains at 2-1 to England and the hosts must avoid defeat in the final Test at the Oval in London, starting on Thursday, to win it.
ABC/Reuters