Gill and Jurel conquer turning track to seal India’s series win
It was heart-stopping, it was pulsating, and at the same time it was nail-biting as well. In the end, two Young Turks of Indian cricket, Dhruv Jurel and Shubman Gill plotted India’s five wicket victory over England in the fourth Test and sealed the series, 3-1.
On Monday, the first day of the week, there are blues for office goers, after the weekend. Cricketers have no such luxury like a weekend break when a series is on. So, on Monday, when wickets fell and India were 120 for five, it was scary.
The way the wicket, a typical fourth day track behaved, was expected. There was aid for the spinners and worries for the Indian batters. A few of them had perished to shots which were needed.
Pressure, a word often used too often in sport, fitted the situation. And this was where temperament, timing, tact and temper mattered as Dhruv Jurel, adjuged player of the match for his enormous contribution in this Test and Gill had to show they could pull it off.
Shoaib Bashir, the thin and tall Englishman of Pakistan origin was using the red cherry with skill and turn as he took three wickets.
He has an action wherein he releases the ball from a high arc. He got turn too, but the worry was low bounce, almost ankle height at times. Unless the batters were willing to play as the situation demanded, there was every chance India could have bungled.
People have slammed Gill for his strokeplay in the past, forgetting the masterly knock he had carved out in the Gabba Test three years ago in Australia. At that time, Gill had conjured up a knock of 91.
This was Gabba redux of sorts. The way Gill and rising star Dhruv Jurel handled the pressure was a sight to watch. Fans inside the stadium were few in comparison to lakhs watching on TV and gizmos, across the world.
This was a tantalising match, engrossing and bringing out the true colours of the two Indian batters.
They had pedigree. What was needed was a high degree of concentration to tackle wily Bashir, Joe Root and left-arm orthodox bowler Tom Hartley, whose ill-fitting shirt looked bizarre. In the end, Gill and Jurel pulled off a heist, and had reason to tear their shirts in joy.
An embrace from coach Rahul Dravid reflected emotions and how much he has worked with the young boys. This has been a hard series, where some were absent and some out due to injury.
No Virat Kohli, no Mohd Shami, KL Rahul injured, Rishabh Pant out since December 2022, Jasprit Bumrah rested. Jeez, this was crazy, plus Ravindra Jadeja was also out for one Test.
This series has proved one thing, there is a skipper (Rohit Sharma) and coach ready to lead against that Bazball nonsense and strip the Englishmen down to their knees.
Ben Stokes, the master captain, or so we were told, led. He may have set an attacking field and shuffled the close cordon, slip, silly point, short leg and more, on Monday.
But the way Gill and Jurel batted was testimony to their coming of age. Jurel is a babe, just two Tests old. He has a safe pair of gloves behind the stumps and he has given a quiet burial to former keeper KS Bharat.
With the bat, Jurel has shown class and the ability to play spin like a master. These boys who have made debuts in this series from Sarfaraz to Akash Deep have been a revelation.
They have come from first class cricket plus the IPL, much cursed, as it’s club cricket of slam-bang and whiz-thud variety.
Jurel’s 39 was rich, like filter coffee, which tasted so good. And with Gill, who opened up later to slam two sixes in his 52, India showed spunk to spank England.
“I play according to the demands of the situation. The first innings, we needed to get runs as well, we knew we had to bat last and so any runs would be vital.
I was involved in some partnerships, so credit does go to all those who stayed and added runs.
I just saw the ball and then reacted to it, not thinking too far ahead.
The conversation was good (with Shubman Gill in the second innings), we just broke it into 10-run sets and started developing the partnership,” said Jurel later.
As for the man who has inspired confidence in the kids and goaded them to do well, Rohit was plain-speak.
“It has been a very hard-fought series without a doubt and to come on the right side of it at the end of four Test matches feels really good,” said Rohit.
“There were a lot of challenges thrown at us but I thought we responded pretty well. I thought we were quite composed in what we wanted to achieve and what we wanted to do on the field, I am very happy. It clearly tells me they (youngsters) want to be here and have worked hard in domestic cricket,” added Rohit.
