Hero or villain? Ravindra Jadeja's Lord's stand with Bumrah and Siraj divides opinion
The partnerships for the final two wickets lasted 212 balls, keeping England on the field until the third session. However, India still fell short of the target by 22 runs. Jadeja, along with Bumrah and Siraj, added 58 runs and remained unbeaten on 61 after facing 181 balls — but their efforts could not undo the damage caused by the earlier collapse.Fights through to fifty, but the sword stays in its sheath.#RavindraJadeja knows the job's not over#ENGvIND 3rd TEST, DAY 5 | LIVE NOW on JioHotstar https://t.co/DTsJzJLwUc pic.twitter.com/Hig4Y61i8N— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) July 14, 2025Jadeja batted with caution alongside the tail, refusing to offer England a whiff of opportunity. The Chennai Super Kings all-rounder struck a six in the 48th over off Chris Woakes to signal his intent, but India then went 107 deliveries without another boundary. Jadeja refrained from taking risks even against Chris Woakes, Shoaib Bashir and Joe Root, who found far less assistance from the surface than Stokes, Archer or Carse.MORE CALCULATED RISKS?Former India captain Anil Kumble suggested Jadeja might have taken a few more calculated risks, particularly against Woakes and the spinners, which could have pushed India closer to the target.'The two bowlers he could have potentially taken on were Chris Woakes, who is slightly slower in the air, and then Bashir and Joe Root. I know they're off-spinners taking the ball away, but it wasn't turning square. So there wasn't a lot to worry about in terms of spin or the outside edge. Jadeja has played on tougher pitches and against better bowling. I thought he could have taken a chance.'You want to take those risks. Yes, there were a few runs he rightly declined because Bumrah and Siraj were at the other end, but he could have chanced it a bit more,' Kumble said.GAVASKAR AND GILL DEFEND JADEJA APPROACHadvertisementWhile social media buzzed with mixed reactions to Jadeja's innings, batting legend Sunil Gavaskar defended the approach, saying the all-rounder could hardly have done more under the circumstances.'I think it was dictated by the fact that he was batting with the lower-order batters. He was trying to farm the strike as much as possible. Also, at that stage, you're wary of playing aerial shots on that kind of pitch. And the Indian team tends to take the game deep — that's what he was aiming for,' Gavaskar told India Today after the Lord's Test.Meanwhile, captain Shubman Gill backed the strategy employed by Jadeja and the tail, noting that India were looking to build small partnerships and slowly transfer pressure back onto England.Gill said India had planned to wait for the second new ball — just 5.1 overs away — suggesting that the old Dukes ball was difficult to hit, particularly with England spreading the field against Jadeja.'Every five or six runs they scored, you could feel the pressure building on England. A small partnership of 30–40 runs could have made a huge difference. We were quite optimistic when Siraj was batting — if we could just get to the second new ball with 12–15 runs left, anything could happen. A couple of boundaries and suddenly, you're back on top,' Gill said.advertisementEventually, Bumrah's resistance was ended by a Stokes bouncer in the 62nd over, and Siraj's brave vigil ended in heartbreaking fashion. Growing in confidence while seeing off significant spells, Siraj almost negotiated Bashir's over, but was bowled when the ball struck the middle of his bat and ricocheted back onto the stumps.Jadeja and Siraj were visibly gutted at the end, as India found themselves agonisingly close yet ultimately short. England players, including Zak Crawley and Joe Root, walked over to console a tearful Siraj. Captain Stokes put an arm around Jadeja, acknowledging the Indian star's defiant resistance.With England taking a 2–1 lead in the series, India will be hoping to bounce back when the two teams meet in the fourth Test, starting 23 July in Manchester.- Ends
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The Hindu
33 minutes ago
- The Hindu
Jadeja played as much with his heart as with his head
Lord's was hot, and seeing Ben Stokes virtually bowl himself into the ground was tiring just watching from the stands. It was a final day tempered with the heat of Stokes and treated with the ice of Ravindra Jadeja. Exhaustion is not a feeling, it is a physical state; yet at the end of the day, exhaustion was the key emotion as Mohammed Siraj sank to the ground, bowled almost unfairly by a ball trickling onto the stumps, to be forever haunted by the question: could he have kicked it away if he had reacted quickly? Joe Root who ran to console him, appeared relieved it would remain a rhetorical question. Yet, for all of Stokes's heroics and England's sense of purpose, the man who dominated the day in his understated way was Jadeja. His fourth 50 of the series must count as one of India's great innings in a lost cause. For 22 overs, Jasprit Bumrah kept him company, the batters suggesting they might get them in singles. The fast bowler would defend and then shadow play the stroke he might have played — a perfect cover drive, for instance — had the circumstances been different. There was a calmness about the pair that contrasted with the hectic activity around as bowlers ran in, fielders spread out or closed in, and the crowd raised its decibel levels. No boundaries and few runs — yet you couldn't take your eyes away. Test cricket was demonstrating it doesn't need the artificiality of bang-bang cricket, that spectators can gasp and cheer at a defensive stroke, and when apparently nothing is happening, everything is. Sitting on the edge of the seat through five hours can be a rewarding if painful experience. Jadeja turns 37 this year, and despite his record, he was never in the frame for captaincy, and few cared for his cricketing opinions. He came, he saw, he did his job while the focus remained on the more glamorous. Yet, as a left-arm spinner he has more wickets at a lower average and better strike rate than Bishan Bedi; as a left handed batter a better strike rate than Sourav Ganguly, and as an all rounder a better batting average and both average and strike rate than Kapil Dev. Jadeja wouldn't automatically replace any of these players in an Indian team, but however misleading statistics might be, you have to acknowledge them. He has also been one of India's finest fielders, bearing comparison with Mohammed Azharuddin. Unselfish At Lord's he managed India's tail with all the assurance of a V.V.S. Laxman, unselfishly and without ego. At one point, it was England who looked ragged. Stokes, who bowled 20 overs on the day, was so tired he occasionally forgot he was captain and the fielders seemed uncertain where to go. Too tired even to wave his arms to move them, Stokes merely looked around and hoped for the best. There were eight men on the fence with only two wickets remaining, at times there was no slip. Jadeja, the support act to leading batters, was now the main feature as the wickets fell. At 112 for eight at lunch, it looked done. Yet, Jadeja kept the hopes of a nation alive, with an innings of rare intelligence and courage. Few Indian batters could be accused of throwing it away; none did so on the final day. Rahul had shown in his stint how stout defence might win the day, there was enough time. Many struggled. Joe Root, the best of them, made a century and a forty, but played and missed too many times and seemed out of sorts, finally getting bowled sweeping. Rahul's century in the first innings was more fluent, but it was left to India's No. 7 to play the innings of the match. Of the many might-have-beens is the question of extras. India conceded 63 in the match, 32 of them in England's second innings 192. They lost by 22 runs. Go figure, as Americans might say. In the final analysis, cricket is an individual sport. There is the bowler and there is the batter. Stokes's belief as bowler negated Jadeja's spirit as batter; everything else was secondary. England can be proud. So can India.
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First Post
an hour ago
- First Post
Ganguly joins chorus expressing disappointment over India's failed run-chase at Lord's: 'Especially with quality of…'
India surrendered the series lead to England once again after suffering a 22-run defeat in their chase of the 193-run target at Lord's on Monday. Former India captain Sourav Ganguly was the latest Indian cricketer to react to the result at the 'Home of Cricket'. read more Former India captain Sourav Ganguly praised Ravindra Jadeja for his fight on the final day of the Lord's Test but was disappointed with the result. Reuters/PTI Former India captain Sourav Ganguly was among those expressing disappointment at the Shubman Gill-led side's inability to chase down 193 in the third Test at Lord's on Monday. India surrendered the series lead to the Ben Stokes-led English team once again after suffering a 22-run defeat at the 'Home of Cricket'. What's more, a majority of senior batters including captain Shubman Gill failed to deliver under pressure and was it was left to all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja and the rest of the lower-order to get India within touching distance of the target. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Also Read | Jadeja deserved his own Headingley 2019 moment at Lord's, but India just could not muster enough resolve Ganguly, one of India's greatest captains as well as batters, felt India should have got over the line at the iconic venue, especially with the 'quality of batsmanship' that they possess in their ranks. 'A little bit disappointed with the way India batted in this series, they should have got this 190,' remarked Ganguly at the Indian Racing League & F4 India Championship event here on Tuesday. 'When you see Jadeja fight and score the runs, and the batting quality in this team, they will be more disappointed than I am because it was an opportunity to get 2-1 up in the series against England. 'I am sure that they will be disappointed not getting to 190 especially with the quality of batsmanship they have in that dressing room,' 'Dada' added. What Gavaskar and Kumble had said on Jadeja and India's chase Ganguly was by no means the only former Indian cricketer reacting to the Lord's result with disappointment. Batting legend Sunil Gavaskar had earlier stated that Jadeja could have taken a few more chances against off-spinners Shoaib Bashir and Joe Root while batting cautiously against the red-hot quicks. 'You could say that Jadeja could have taken the odd chance and not necessarily the aerial route when Joe Root and Shoaib Bashir was bowling. But full marks to him (Jadeja),' former India opener and captain Gavaskar said on Sony Sports. 'I thought when Bashir came to bowl, Jadeja could have taken a chance. The second time was when Bumrah was batting with him, because Stokes was fielding inside the circle at mid-off. So he could have scored a boundary there, especially when Joe Root was bowling. Later when Siraj came to bat, Stokes stationed himself near the boundary rope,' he added. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Also Read | 'Captain wasn't the same...': Ex-India players point out mistakes that cost Lord's Test Spin legend Anil Kumble, Ganguly's former teammate, echoed Gavaskar's opinion, adding that a set Jadeja – collected a total of four boundaries and a six during his unbeaten 61 off 181 deliveries – could have also attacked seam-bowling all-rounder Chris Woakes. 'The two bowlers he could have potentially taken on were Chris Woakes, who is slightly slower in the air, and then Bashir and Joe Root. I know they're off-spinners taking the ball away, but it wasn't turning square. So there wasn't a lot to worry about in terms of spin or the outside edge. Jadeja has played on tougher pitches and against better bowling. I thought he could have taken a chance,' Kumble, also an ex-India captain, said. India travel to Manchester, where the fourth Test against England gets underway at Old Trafford on 23 July before returning to London for the fifth Test at The Oval starting 31 July. They find themselves facing a must-win situation in Manchester if they are to keep their hopes of a first Test series victory in England in 18 years alive. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD
News18
an hour ago
- News18
Shubman Gill Told To 'Stick To His Attitude' Or 'Learn The Hard Way' After Lord's
Former India batter Mohammad Kaif has asked Shubman Gill to 'stick to the attitude' that 'works' for him, instead of 'fighting' players from England during the remainder of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy. Kaif believes the Indian captain's altercation with Zak Crawley altered the recent Lord's Test by firing up his opposite number, Ben Stokes, and ended in a 22-run defeat for the visitors. Just before Stumps on Day 3 of the Test, Gill was unhappy with what he felt was time wasting by Crawley. With minutes to go for the end of play, the English opener kept pulling out of his batting stance against Jasprit Bumrah while also asking to stop batting entirely and asking for the physio after getting hit by a delivery. Gill engaged in finger-pointing and sarcastic applause for him, while also gesturing to call for an 'Impact Player'.
