IND vs ENG 4th Test Day 5 Highlights today Monday, 9-6-2021 – 4th Test, India tour of England from Kennington Oval, London.
ICC Rankings Test, ODI & T20
Joe Root won the toss and chose to bowl first.
India team: 1 KL Rahul, 2 Rohit Sharma, 3 Cheteshwar Pujara, 4 Virat Kohli (capt), 5 Ajinkya Rahane, 6 Rishabh Pant (wk), 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 Shardul Thakur, 9 Umesh Yadav, 10 Jasprit Bumrah, 11 Mohammed Siraj.
England team: 1 Rory Burns, 2 Haseeb Hameed, 3 Dawid Malan, 4 Joe Root (capt), 5 Ollie Pope, 6 Jonny Bairstow (wk), 7 Moeen Ali, 8 Chris Woakes, 9 Craig Overton, 10 Ollie Robinson, 11 James Anderson.
Post Match Presentation.
Joe Root:
“Frustrating not to get something from the game today, we felt we had an opportunity to win, but credit to India, they got the ball to reverse and that was the turning point. Could have made more of a first-innings lead, and you have to make chances count against world-class players. Got to find ways to get better but be realistic and realize that was world-class bowling. It might reverse at OT, we’ll have to manage it better. Whenever you lose the game you can look at the toss, but we’ve got to be more ruthless and make that a 200-run lead. Got to be clinical, not be comfy, make big partnerships. We have played good cricket and important to remember that.”
Looking ahead to the fifth Test, and the wear and tear. “Woody is coming good, injuries have been frustrating, but those guys that have had the opportunity have been excellent.” Mention too of Saqib Mahmood suffering a side strain. That’s inopportune!
Virat Kohli:
“The character that the side has shown, to come back from 100 run deficit showed that we were not down and out. I said at Lord’s as well, I am proud of the character, among the top three bowling performances I have witnessed as India captain. It’s relative to what you call flat, the field wasn’t wet like the first three days, the ball got scuffed up nicely, one side heavier, and exploited reverse swing perfectly. We believed as a team that we could get all ten wickets.
On Bumrah: “27 runs off 22 overs on this kind of pitch, a huge effort. When it started reversing he just said give me the ball.”
On Shardul Thakur: “Rohit’s innings was outstanding, but the impact performance from the lower-middle order, Shardul’s fifty was the difference and a counterattack in the second innings. Looking to restrict us but he was outstanding. We never got towards statistics, we know what we focus on, we take a call on what feels best and we believe we can win Tests with it. Whatever the noise on the outset, it doesn’t bother us.”
On Shastri and the back-room staff. “Unfortunate they aren’t here but they just called us. it’s a real momentum boost. We are looking forward to opportunities to step on the field for India. And the fans have been outstanding too.”
The Player of the Match is Rohit Sharma:
“I wanted to be on the field but getting that hundred was special, 100 behind we knew how important it was to give them a target of 370-odd. A great effort from the batting unit. It’s my first overseas hundred, so obviously my best one. The three-figure mark wasn’t in my mind, we knew the pressure on the batting unit, but kept our heads down and batted the situation.
“Not been preying on my mind, just try to get the team into a good position. With 30, or 80, or 150-plus. I used to bat middle-order, but I know the importance of opening. Once you’re in you’ve got to make it count. It’s important to embrace the challenge, back in Durham we had time off to look at our training and technique, after WTC we had 20-25 days and that was a game-changer. Batted well as we’ve been challenged, especially at Leeds, but that can happen. The message from the physio [re hamstrings] is ‘assess every minute, don’t look too far ahead.”
