Fourth Test: Shubman Gill, Dhruv Jurel weather England spin storm to guide India to five-wicket win
No praise can be too high for how Shubman Gill and Dhruv Jurel channelled their sense of purpose to secure a major victory for India in Ranchi.
Two upright batsmen, both playing with straight bats and nimble feet, accessing areas of the ground with little risk, put on an unbeaten stand of 72 to seal the deal. Gill, with a two-day stubble and batting in a cap against the spinners, was the picture of calm.
Even when he skipped down the track to launch Sahib Bashir over long off, he barely cracked a smile. Moments later, he would advance again, and despite not getting to the pitch of the ball, the shot would leave the fielder in the deep on the leg side bewildered as it went for six.
Jurel, who kept his helmet on the whole time, was equally unperturbed. Some balls kept low, some hit cracks and raised, but he trusted his game. Waltzing down the crease to meet the ball and smother the spin rather than trying to go big, here was a batsman who trusted his defence and knew how to counter the spinner by working the ball into the gaps.
But, it was not always so. There was panic. As you would expect on a wearing pitch on the fourth day of a Test match.
India had begun with Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal having raced to 40 the previous evening. Rohit continued to press on, knowing when to attack and how to defend, but Jaiswal got ahead of himself. Attempting to flay Joe Root through the off side, he only managed to spear a catch to James Anderson and the opening stand had been broken.
But, looking at the bigger
