
Wasn't about glory, wasn't about stats...: Heroes of 'Manchester Miracle' take to social media as England series stays alive
Team India displayed remarkable resilience, securing a draw against England in the fourth Test at Old Trafford. Centuries from Shubman Gill, Ravindra Jadeja, and Washington Sundar helped India overcome a significant first-innings deficit. Despite England's imposing lead, India's strong batting performance ensured the series remains alive at 1-2, setting the stage for a decisive final Test at The Oval.
ANI Shubman Gill, Rishabh Pant, Washington Sundar, Jadeja Following a miraculous draw at Manchester's Old Trafford Stadium during the fourth Test, Team India's heroes of the match took to social media, expressing their emotions following what was one of the hardest-fought Tests for the unit in a long while. To keep the series alive and kicking, India pulled off a miracle at Manchester, with centuries from skipper Shubman Gill, Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar helping India dig deep and eke out a 114-run win despite trailing by 311 runs after the first innings. India's stubborn resilience and grit rattled the Englishmen and served the visitors a massive psychological advantage ahead of the final Test at The Oval, where they can draw the series. Skipper Gill, who produced one of the finest knocks of his career in the second innings after three successive failures, took to Instagram, posting pictures with the caption, "Clutch."
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by Ꮪhubman Gill (@shubmangill) Opener, KL Rahul, who posted a brilliant 230-ball 90 in the second innings, formed a 188-run partnership for the third wicket after two early wickets, also posted on Instagram saying, "Hard fought 5 days. On to the next one."
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by KL Rahul👑 (@klrahul)
Wicketkeeper-batter and vice-captain Rishabh Pant, who pulled off one of the greatest acts of bravery and resillience by walking out to bat despite an injured foot and made a half-century, posted on Instagram that while the result was not the one "they came for, but not the one they will walk away from.""Wasn't about glory, wasn't about stats. Not the result we came for, but not one we'll walk away from. The fight was real till the very end #RP17," posted Pant on Instagram. — RishabhPant17 (@RishabhPant17) Sundar, who scored his maiden Test and international ton during a double century stand with Jadeja, expressed his gratitude towards god following the knock, posting, "Grateful for the people and forever grateful to you, God." — Sundarwashi5 (@Sundarwashi5) Coming to the match, England opted to field first. Half-centuries from Yashasvi Jaiswal (58 in 107 balls, with 10 fours and a six), Sai Sudharsan (61 in 151 balls, with seven fours) and Rishabh Pant (54 in 75 balls, with three fours and two sixes) took India to 358 runs, with Stokes (5/72) troubling the visitors with timely wickets and not letting a massive partnership happen. Jofra Archer also took 3/73. In the second innings, Zak Crawley (84 in 113 balls, with 13 fours and a six) and Ben Duckett (94 in 100 balls, with 13 fours) produced a 166-run stand for the opening wicket, sending India on leather hunt. The presence of Joe Root (150 in 248 balls, with 14 fours) and Stokes (141 in 198 balls, with 12 fours and a six) aggravated Indian bowlers, who saw these two produce milestone after milestone on their way to a 311-run lead. England was skittled out for 669 runs, with Ravindra Jadeja (4/143) being the pick of the bowlers. Jasprit Bumrah (2/112) had an off day at work.After Chris Woakes reduced India to 0/2, KL Rahul (90 in 230 balls, with eight fours) and skipper Shubman Gill (103 in 238 balls, with 12 fours) caused England's faces to tense, batting three sessions for an 188-run stand. After these two were done, the spin all-rounder duo of Jadeja (107* in 185 balls, with 13 fours and a six) and Washington Sundar (101* in 206 balls, with nine fours and a six) rattled and frustrated England with their resolve and wall-like presence, taking India to a 114-run lead, ending at 425/4 in a draw. The series is still alive at 1-2, with the final match at The Oval to start from July 31. (ANI)

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


NDTV
28 minutes ago
- NDTV
R Ashwin Breaks Silence On 'Fake' India-Pakistan Asia Cup Quote: "Shame On..."
Former India star all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin on Monday, took to social media and cleared the air regarding one of his viral comments regarding the upcoming Asia Cup. BCCI and Team India are receiving constant slamming from fans and even some former cricketers, ever-since Asia Cup 2025 schedule has released. The Asian cricket tournament, which was likely to get cancelled due to the political tensions between India and Pakistan, will be played between September 9 to 28 in the UAE. The arch-rivals India and Pakistan are placed in the same group are scheduled to face each other on September 14. As soon as the schedule was out, a statement from Ashwin went viral on social media, where he had called out the BCCI for going ahead with the match against Pakistan. The statement mentioned Ashwin as saying that the World Championship of Legends match between India and Pakistan was cancelled only because the lesser amount of money was invested. "Small money is involved so World Championship of Legends got cancelled. But India is still playing against Pakistan in Asia Cup and BCCI hasn't cancelled it. Because the amount of money decides the level of patriotism," the viral post quoted Ashwin as saying. Don't associate me with this fake news. Shame on those who trigger all this — Ashwin 🇮🇳 (@ashwinravi99) July 28, 2025 Taking to X (formerly Twitter), Ashwin reshared the post and wrote, "Don't associate me with this fake news. Shame on those who trigger all this." For the unversed, India Champions, led by Yuvraj Singh, refused to play their match against Pakistan Champions as a protest against the Pahalgam terror attack in April this year. The likes of Harbhajan Singh, Yusuf Pathan, and Shikhar Dhawan took a strong stand and boycotted the game. Meanwhile, former India captain Sourav Ganguly on Sunday said he has no issues with India being placed in the same group as Pakistan in the upcoming Asia Cup, asserting that while terrorism must end, sport must continue. "I'm okay with the schedule. Sport must continue. What happened in Pahalgam should never happen, but we can't let that stop the game. Terrorism must end. India has taken a firm stand against it, it's in the past now. Sport must go on," Ganguly told PTI.


NDTV
28 minutes ago
- NDTV
Ben Stokes " Ne Beizzati Karwa Li": England Captain Not Spared By Natwest Winner After Handshake Row
For England, the drawn fourth Test vs India might have tasted as a loss. Starting from the final session on the fourth day, as India fought to conquer a 311-run deficit, England were the firm favourites. But India fought with their heart to force a draw. In fact, after overnight batters Shubman Gill and KL Rahul fell on Day 5, Washington Sundar and Ravindra Jadeja stitched a solid stand and completed their centuries. While the India duo was only a few runs aways from the century-marks, England captain Ben Stokes approached his Indian counterparts with an offer to shake hands and call it a day, only for India to refuse to budge and settle for a draw after the duo got their centuries. The skipper Stokes and the whole English unit looked completely unsettled, firing a barrage of remarks at the all-round duo and putting in a half-hearted effort while bowling, as their key players sought some rest. Former India star Mohammad Kaif blasted Ben Stokes for his act. "Ben Stokes ne Beiizzati karwali (Ben Stokes has lost respect) because of one moment when he wanted to stop the game. Ravindra Jadeja was batting on 90 while Washington Sundar was on 80. You should not have asked to stop the game," Kaif said in a clip on Instagram. "Why would we want to do that? You weren't able to bowl out India, had nearly two days to do that. You weren't able to win. I don't understand what he was trying to do by getting the game to stop. "Ben Stokes bowled so well, scored a century and everybody was lauding him. It takes years to earn respect and one moment to lose it. Today was that moment for Ben Stokes when he lost respect." View this post on Instagram A post shared by Mohammad Kaif (@mohammadkaif87) Meanwhile, former Indian cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar hailed the Team India for producing "warriors" every match and slammed the English skipper Ben Stokes for behaving like a "spoiled kid" as the visitors refused to draw the match without their all-rounders Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar getting to their centuries. "I think that was the perfect summation of what happened -- a draw that feels like a win. And yet again, this young Indian batting line-up continues to surprise. You expected KL Rahul and Shubman Gill to be the partnership to watch out for, but that stand was broken early in the day. However, India keeps producing warriors every Test match -- this time, it was Washington Sundar who stood tall. Fantastic batting once again. In the end, what we saw was frustration from a team that is used to dominating at home. It's rare to see England settle for a draw twice in the Bazball era. Remember, this is the first time Ben Stokes abandoned his principle of batting first after winning the toss -- and it happened against India. This draw, without any weather intervention, came against India. That says a lot," said Manjrekar.


Indian Express
41 minutes ago
- Indian Express
Sunil Gavaskar slams Ben Stokes and co: ‘Everything cannot be done according to what the England team wants'
The final day of the fourth Test between India and England at Old Trafford saw England captain Ben Stokes offering the handshake to Indian batsmen Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar prior to the last one hour of the Test with the Indian batsman refusing so and deciding to continue. With Stokes and other England players targeting Jadeja and Sundar with comments like 'You want to get a Test hundred against Harry Brook?' and other comments, Jadeja and Sundar went on to complete their hundreds before they decided to agree for the draw. Former Indian captain and legend Sunil Gavaskar has called the English team including Stokes for their 'whining' tactics. 'Towards the end of the Test, a few grumpy English players were unhappy that the batters at the crease, Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar, declined the offer to end the day's play when England captain Ben Stokes proposed it at the start of the final hour. Instead, they opted to bat on and complete their hundreds. The England players felt that, since there was no chance of a result, the Indians should have accepted the offer to conclude proceedings. They seem to forget that two teams are playing out there, and if one decides to continue, the other simply has to accept it. They made sarcastic remarks about the batters, who were in their 80s, getting to their centuries off the bowling of a batter. What they overlooked was the hard work and resilience the batters had shown against frontline bowlers for over four hours to reach the 80s. If they wanted a hundred for their efforts, England should have denied them with proper bowlers rather than whining about them getting there against Harry Brook,' Gavaskar wrote in his column for Sportstar. Jadeja and Sundar stitched together an unbroken fifth wicket partnership of 202 runs to deny England a win to take a 3-1 series lead in the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy. India had started the final day of the Test trailing England by 137 runs with eight wickets in hand in the fourth innings and needed to survive the day to have any hopes of not losing the five Test series. While India lost KL Rahul and captain Subhuman Gill, Jadeja and Sundar made sure that India were placed safely with 75 runs ahead of England with six wickets in hand before the start of the last hour. With Indian batsmen playing for five more overs, which also saw Jadeja and Sundar complete their hundreds, it meant that a frustrated England team targeted the Indian batsman with verbal comments. Gavaskar also shared how if he was the captain, he would have told the batsmen to play out the remaining overs. 'A Test century isn't easy and doesn't come every match, so the batters were fully entitled to bat on and reach their personal landmarks — which they eventually did. If I were the captain, I'd have told them to keep batting and play out the remaining overs, tiring out the fielders even more — especially after the shenanigans by the English players once their offer was declined,' wrote Gavaskar. Post the match, Stokes talked about how he wanted his frontline bowlers not facing the risk of injury and hence the offer for a draw. Gavaskar termed it as the England team wanting everything to be done what they want. 'Shubman Gill is a young skipper and a fine gentleman, so after the draw in Manchester, he didn't ask why England batted on to score over 600 and take a lead of 311. Were they afraid that if the lead was just 250, India might score 500 and then bowl England out for less in the fourth innings? By batting on even after Stokes got his century, England perhaps didn't leave their bowlers enough time to bowl India out and win the match and with it, the series. Everything cannot be done according to what the England team wants. This is yet another example of that old syndrome: when we do it, it's right; when the opposition does the same, it's wrong. Those days are long gone, and no one, least of all the Indian team, is going to simply accept it,' Gavaskar wrote further. Gavaskar was also of the view that England missed a trick with deteriorating light prior to the final hour. And this would have avoided the controversy. 'There's only a three-day break before the next Test. If England didn't want two more centuries recorded against them, they could have brought the quicks back on. The natural light was deteriorating, and the floodlights were on. Had Jofra Archer and Brydon Carse been given the ball, the umpires might have intervened and stopped play — so perhaps England missed a trick there,' Gavaskar wrote. With the last test at The Oval beginning on Thursday, India can still level the series with a win at the venue. Gavaskar also termed the five Test series as a 'terrific' series. 'These little irritants aside, it has been a terrific series, and the cricket from both sides has been riveting. The fifth and final Test at The Oval will hopefully deliver another thriller to round off what has been one of the finest Test series, a pleasure and privilege to watch,' concluded Gavaskar.