India has a strong grip on the 4th Test match against England at the end of Day 3. The hosts ended the day at 40/0 while chasing 192 runs and needed 152 more runs to win the match and the series. However, player Shoaib Bashir believes that the visitors will defeat the hosts on day 4 and win the match. Bashir took a five-wicket haul in the first innings and became the second-youngest English bowler to take a five-wicket haul in Tests.
Pursuing has not been easy in the IND vs ENG Series of tests so far. The team that was chasing in the last three games ended up losing. India could not chase 230 runs in the first Test and lost the match after being bowled out on Day 4.
Shoaib Bashir’s bold claim to win the 4th IND vs ENG Test
“India played well. Jurel batted very well towards the end. He probably scored a few more runs than we would have liked, but we’ll get them out (on Monday),” Bashir said.
A bold statement from Shoaib Bashir as England look to beat India in the fourth Test in Ranchi on Sunday.#INVENGE pic.twitter.com/Mzfipcax0U
– Cricket on TNT Sports (@cricketontnt) February 25, 2024
“I know I have a job to do.” [on Day 4] and me and tom [Hartley] We are very excited about the challenge,” Bashir said after the third day of play in Ranchi, when he took his first five-wicket haul in first-class cricket. “We know that the two of us are facing a world-class team, but we have the opportunity to be heroes.
“That pitch is deteriorating quite a bit now. We saw some good length pop and some roll. Those are good signs for us.
“The countryside is deteriorating enormously, so anything can happen. That’s 10 opportunities to take 10 wickets. We saw how Ashwin and Jadeja bowled on that wicket and that gives us great confidence.”
England put on a show of failure in their second innings and finished with 145 runs despite gaining a first innings lead. The Indian trio of Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja weaved a web around the England batsmen and picked up all ten wickets.
Ravichandran Ashwin started things off for India when he removed Ben Duckett for 15 runs by trapping him off short-leg striker Sarfaraz Khan. The veteran player hit the next ball again and got rid of England vice-captain Ollie Pope for a golden duck. Ashwin added insult to injury for England when Joe Root, who was the centurion in the first innings, could not continue his magic and was trapped in front for 11 runs.
After Ravichandran Ashwin dismissed the English top order, Kuldeep Yadav took charge and began his quest for wickets by getting rid of opener Zak Crawley for 60 runs for a beauty. Ben Stokes was cleaned up by Kuldeep for 4 runs while Ravindra Jadeja removed Jonny Bairstow for 30 runs in the first ball after the tea break.
Kuldeep Yadav continued his exploits against the English batsmen and removed Tom Hartley by trapping him at long-on off Sarfaraz Khan for 7 runs. Ollie Robinson could not repeat his first innings performance and came out to duck after being caught in front by Kuldeep.
Ravichandran Ashwin closed the English innings by taking the last two wickets of Ben Foakes and James Anderson for 7 and 0 runs respectively. Ultimately, England could only manage 145 runs and gave India a target of 192 runs to chase in their second innings.
Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal ensured that India played the remaining 8 overs of Day 3 without losing any wicket and chased the England bowlers. Rohit remained unbeaten on 24 runs off 27 balls, while Yashasvi Jaiswal was not out on 16 runs off 21 balls.
The Indian team will look to pursue the goal and at the same time win the five-match series 3-1. However, there is still a lot to play for in the fourth Test match as India will face stiff opposition from the English spinners in the hunt for the milestone on the fourth day.