With India recording a thumping win over England inside three days in the fifth and final Test, Indian skipper Rohit Sharma lauded spinner Kuldeep Yadav’s performance with the bowl and bat. A five-wicket haul on his 100th Test by Ravichandran Ashwin broke the back of England’s batting line-up, handing the Three Lions’ ‘Bazball’ school of cricket a blow as India won the Test by an innings and 64 runs at Dharamshala on Saturday. Kuldeep was crowned as the ‘Player of the Match’ for his all-round performance as he scored 30 runs and took five wickets in England’s first innings. He took two wickets in England’s second innings.
“We know he (Kuldeep) has a lot of potential, can be a match-winner. He has something about him. Since his knee injury, he has come back, and he is putting a lot on the ball now. Most pleasing was his batting,” Rohit said.
In the series, Kuldeep scored 97 valuable runs as a lower-order batter and took 19 wickets at an average of 20.15.
The skipper was also all praise for young opener Yashasvi Jaiswal, who had a breakout series with 712 runs in five games at an average of 89.00, with two double centuries and three fifties. He ended up as the leading run-getter.
“The guy has got a long way to go, and wants to take on the bowlers. With his talent and the shots, he puts bowlers under pressure. He has come a long way and will understand what he needs to do. Top series for him, likes to score big,” Rohit said.
Speaking about the team’s performance and the show put on by youngsters in the absence of seniors like Virat Kohli, KL Rahul and Mohammed Shami, Rohit said that the players have to be nurtured.
“When you win a Test, everything has to fall into place. Lot of things we did right through the match. [Absent stars] At some stage, people are going to go, we know that. All these guys are short on experience but they’ve played a lot of cricket. We have got to nurture them and make them understand the game. When put under pressure they responded pretty well. Credit goes to the entire team for that. We talk about scoring runs, but it is as important to take 20 wickets to win the Test match. Everyone, all the bowlers came and responded. They wanted to make a difference with the ball in hand,” he said.
England won the toss and after opting to bat first were bundled out for 218 in their first inning.
Kuldeep Yadav (5/72) and Ravichandran Ashwin (4/51) topped the bowling charts for India.
India scored 477 runs in the first innings. England had a deficit of 259 runs as they began their second inning. Though Joe Root (84 in 128 balls, with 12 fours) attempted to fight it out for England, he got very little support from the other end.
Jonny Bairstow (39 in 31 balls, with three fours and three sixes) and Tom Hartley (20 in 24 balls, with four boundaries) contributed respectable scores, but nothing could help Root avert a disaster as England were bundled out for 195. England lost the series 4-1.
Ashwin (5/77) was the pick of the bowlers for India. Kuldeep Yadav and Jasprit Bumrah took two wickets each, while Ravindra Jadeja got one.
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