At the start of the third day, the match was highly tilted towards England but 22-year-old Dhruv Jurel changed the course of the match on its head. Jurel played a scintillating inning of 90 runs in his second only and took India out of a precarious position.
Dhruv Jurel was well supported by Kuldeep Yadav who played a handy knock of 28 runs and stitched a 76-run partnership. Once Kuldeep Yadav got out to Anderson, Jurel opened his hands played aggressively and hit some big sixes along with manoeuvring the ball in gaps with the tail-enders.
India managed to bring down England’s lead to 46 runs but they still had a huge task on their hands to restrict the English 2nd innings to a lower score. The Indian spinners took the task into their own hands and spun a web around the England batters to get them all out for 145 in the second innings.
Rohit Sharma managed his resources pretty well and was quite shrewd with his bowling changes and reviews. Rohit Sharma is known to be a player’s captain and is loved quite a bit within the Indian team.
An example of why is it so was displayed on the ground today when Rohit Sharma like a big brother admonished Sarfaraz Khan in a caring manner for not wearing a helmet while fielding at a silly point. In his funny casual tone, he told Sarfaraz, “"Aye, hero nai banne ka (hey, don't be a hero here)." Watch the video here:
Rohit Sharma to Sarfaraz Khan for not wearing helmet:
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) February 25, 2024
"Aye, hero nai banne ka (hey, don't be a hero here)". 🤣🤣pic.twitter.com/f49Mb60cmi
Ashwin and Kuldeep bamboozled England
Ravichandran Ashwin and Kuldeep Yadav combined to claim nine wickets, with Ashwin taking 5 wickets for 51 runs and Kuldeep Yadav taking 4 wickets for 22 runs, as England was dismissed for 145 runs in their second innings.
This set India a target of 192 runs in the final session on day 3 of the fourth Test match played on Sunday. Ashwin's three quick wickets played a crucial role in India's comeback after conceding a 46-run lead in the first innings.
Ashwin, the most experienced bowler in the lineup, returned to the attack and completed his 35th five-wicket haul in Test cricket. In doing so, he surpassed former captain Anil Kumble to become the leading wicket-taker for India in Test cricket at home.