India braves late scare to register historic series win against England in Ranchi

Rohit Sharma has become the first skipper to beat England in the current era of Baz-Ball cricket. Team India won the fourth Test in Ranchi by 5 wickets just a few minutes before the Tea break. 

The stars of the show were young batters Shubman Gill and Dhruv Jurel who shared an unbeaten stand of 72 runs. At one stage India was 120/5 with Shoaib Bashir picking two wickets in two balls to push the hosts back. 

It was a huge moment for Rohit Sharma in particular who was missing some key players. The likes of Virat Kohli and Mohammed Shami were already missing out on the entire series. KL Rahul had to miss three Tests after getting injured during the Hyderabad Test. 

Even Jadeja had gotten injured and missed the next match before coming back for the third Test in Rajkot. The latest triumph has added yet another feather to Rohit Sharma’s cap as far as captaincy is concerned. 

England’s Baz-Ball surrenders meekly to India – 

Team India started the day still needing 152 runs with all ten wickets in hand. Rohit Sharma signaled his intentions with a terrific shot against James Anderson which went for six. 

The opening stand of 84 runs was broken when Yashasvi Jaiswal went for a big shot. Joe Root induced an edge that was caught well by James Anderson. This opened the mini floodgates as Tom Hartley and Shoaib Bashir found an opening. 

Rohit Sharma trying to be aggressive was out for 55 runs off 81 balls. Ben Foakes completed a great catch to help England get their noses back into the game. Rajat Patidar who scored 17 in the first innings was out for a duck in the second. Ollie Pope showed great reflexes to dismiss the under-fire Indian batter. 

With three wickets down at Lunch, India would have hoped for Jadeja to see the team through. There was instant panic after Lunch as Shoaib Bashir dismissed Ravindra Jadeja and Sarfaraz Khan to strike a double blow. 

With the tensions rising, Shubman Gill and Dhruv Jurel grafted at the start of their stand. The two batters ran well between the wickets as the pressure shifted back to the visitors. 24-year-old Gill hit two successive sixes to bring the Indian team closer to a win. With 2 runs off the final ball of the 61st over India had won the game and taken a 3-1 lead in the series. 

Speaking at the end of the game, Rohit Sharma praised the youngsters in the team. The Indian skipper also credited Rahul Dravid and the rest of the coaching staff. The final game of the series starts on the 7th of March in Dharamshala.