England skipper Ben Stokes was proud of the way his spinners fought in the fourth Test, which the team lost, and admitted that he couldn’t have “asked anything more”. England’s young spinners Shoaib Bashir and Tom Hartley put up a valiant effort and made India fight hard for each run as they chased a modest total and won by five wickets. Bashir claimed back-to-back wickets to reduce the hosts to 120/5 and pull England back in the game.

“I think it was a great Test match. If you see the scoreboard, it’ll say India won by 5 wickets, but it doesn’t give credit to the way things unfolded, the ebbs and flows on every single day. I can only be proud of my team, we ‘ve had some inexperienced spinners (Bashir and Hartley), but I’m proud of their efforts, they came here without a lot of exposure and the way they kept bowling, I can’t ask for anything more,” Stokes said after the game.

“Part of my captaincy is allowing the young guys to revel and the freedom to play in some difficult and intimidating conditions in India. I am a massive Test cricket fan, the numbers of youngsters coming along in both teams sets things up nicely for the future of Test cricket. Bashir, what a story, what a journey, taking eight wickets including a 5-fer against India after having hardly played a lot of cricket is superb. You want to win series, you want to play and win cricket matches,” Stokes added.

England’s downfall in the Test came on Day 3, when Ravichandran Ashwin spun England completely out of the game and restricted them to a score of 145.

Stokes talked about that period and admitted that it was hard to deal with the quality of India’s three star spinners.

“If you look yesterday, anything was possible, it was incredibly difficult batting against the spinners (Ashwin, Jadeja and Kuldeep), scoring became difficult and so was rotating the strike. We knew the pitch wouldn’t get any better, as we saw today. I don’t think the criticism of Joe Root has been fair, the sheer amount of cricket he’s played, got 12,000 Test runs. He’s incredible. I’ve been here for a couple of years (as captain) and my message is simple. The only thing I can say is we left nothing on the field, we’ve fought hard and I’m happy with that,” Stokes stated.

On Day 4, Dhruv Jurel and Shubman Gill put up a 72-run stand to pull the hosts out of a difficult situation and steer India towards victory. India are have clinched the series and are now 3-1 up with one more Test to be played between the two teams.

England off-spinner Shoaib Bashir became the second youngest bowler to grab a five-for in Tests for the Three Lions after a fantastic performance on the third day of the fourth Test against India at JSCA International Stadium Complex on Sunday. Aged just 20 years and 135 days, Bashir picked up five wickets in his spell, dismissing the likes of Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Rajat Patidar, Ravindra Jadeja, apart from tail-ender Akash Deep. The youngster bowled a total of 44 overs in his spell, conceding 119 runs while sending down eight maiden overs.

Earlier, leg-spinner Rehan Ahmed recorded similar bowling heroics, taking his maiden five-for at the age of just 18 years and 128 days against Pakistan in the 2022 series at Karachi. The Pakistan-born spinner picked up his wickets at the expense of just 48 runs.

Meanwhile, at Stumps on Day 3, India were sitting pretty at 40/0, chasing 152 runs more to win the five-match series. Skipper Rohit Sharma (24*) and Yashasvi Jaiswal (16*) were unbeaten at the crease when the stumps were drawn.

In their second innings, England was bundled out for just 145 runs, with Zak Crawley (60 in 91 balls, with seven fours) and Jonny Bairstow (30 in 42 balls, with three fours) offering some resistance.

The spinners, hunting in a pack on a surface that offered plenty to them, took all the 10 wickets to fall for England, with the talismanic Ravichandran Ashwin recording yet another five-for and Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja coming up with the perfect supporting act.

Riding on Ashwin’s 5/51 and Kuldeep’s 4/22, the hosts flattened the visitors for under 150. The hosts, thereby, were set a target of 191 runs to take an unassailable 3-1 series lead.

Earlier, India was bundled out for 307 in their first innings in reply to England’s total of 353. Despite Yashasvi Jaiswal coming up with the goods yet again with 73 off 117 balls, laced with eight fours and a six, the hosts were reduced to 219/7.

Reviving Indian hopes from a point where the hosts were at risk of conceding a healthy lead to the visitors, wicketkeeper-batsman Dhruv Jurel (90 in 149 balls, with six fours and four sixes) produced a sensational rearguard knock in the company of Kuldeep (28 off 131 balls). The two came together for a 76-run stand for the eighth wicket, dragging India past 300.

Bashir found purchase in the surface and recorded his maiden five-wicket haul. Supporting his figures of 5/119, Tom Hartley (3/68) and James Anderson (2/48) also produced the goods with the ball.

England chose to bat first after winning the toss, putting 353 runs on the board in their first innings, largely riding on a century by former skipper and batting mainstay Joe Root (122* off 274 balls, 10 fours), a half-century from Ollie Robinson (58 off 96 balls, with nine fours and a six) and a fine rearguard effort from keeper-bat Ben Foakes (47 in 126 balls, with four boundaries and a six).

Ravindra Jadeja (4/67) and Akash Deep (3/83) were the pick of the bowlers for India.

A lighthearted exchange between India batter Sarfaraz Khan and England spinner Shoaib Bashir has taken the internet by storm. The incident happened in the 103rd over of England’s first innings when Bashir came out to bat, following Ollie Robinson‘s dismissal. As Bashir was taking his guard, Sarfaraz decided to have a go at him, questioning the England youngster about his Hindi language skills. While Sarfaraz was confident that Bashir doesn’t understand Hindi, the England star caught him off guard with his response.

The hilarious interactions between Sarfaraz and Bashir has gone viral on social media.

Sarfaraz Khan – Isko Hindi bhi nahi aati hai badhiya chalo (He doesn’t understand Hindi).

Shoaib Bashir – Thodi thodi aati hain Hindi (I know a bit of Hindi).

Sarfaraz Khan – isko to Hindi nahi aati hain (he doesn’t know Hindi).

Shoaib Bashir – Thodi thodi aati hain Hindi (I know a bit of Hindi).@BCCI #INDvsENGTest #SarfarazKhan pic.twitter.com/TRI0esZHYQ

— Cric Crazy (@CHANCHA55457263) February 24, 2024

Bashir’s stay in the middle only last two balls as he was dismissed in the same over as Robinson by Ravindra Jadeja. 

Jadeja ended with figures of 4/67 as India bowled England out for 353.

Meanwhile, India were 34 for one at lunch. The hosts lost skipper Rohit Sharma (2) early with James Anderson dismissing him.

Yashasvi Jaiswal (27 not out) and Shubman Gill (4 not out) were at the crease during the break with India trailing by 319 runs.

Earlier, Joe Root remained unbeaten on 122 as England folded for 353 in their first innings.

Resuming at the overnight score of 302 for seven, Root and Ollie Robinson completed their century stand for the eighth wicket to take England forward.

In the process, Robinson (58 off 96) hit his maiden Test half-century.

Apart from Jadeja, Debutant Akash Deep (3/83) impressed on the first day, while Mohammed Siraj (2/78) picked up two wickets.

India lead the five-match series 2-1.

(With PTI Inputs)

England on Thursday announced their playing XI for the fourth Test against India, starting Friday in Ranchi. The visitors, who trail the five-match series 1-2, have made two changes to the side which suffered a heavy defeat in Rajkot last week. Ollie Robinson and Shoaib Bashir have replaced Mark Wood and Rehan Ahmed. England lost the third Test by 434 runs, the biggest-ever win for India in Tests in terms of runs. The visitors had won the opener in Hyderabad, but have suffered defeats in the last two games and find themselves behind in the series.

Despite his recent struggles, Jonny Bairstow has managed to keep his place in the XI, as earlier suggested by both captain Ben Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum that they are not worried about the star batter’s form.

Veteran pacer James Anderson also keeps his place despite reports suggesting that he might be rested for the game.

On the eve of the team announcement for the 4th Test, England captain Stokes praised Robinson and said that he has worked “incredibly hard” even after not taking part in the first three Test matches against India.

Adressing the pre-match press conference, Stokes accepted it could be “tough” for a player like Robinson not to be included in the first eleven of the first three Test matches of the five-game series.

“He has worked incredibly hard while he has been out here. And it is tough for someone like Ollie, who’s played such a big part in the game over the last two years, where he has not taken part in a game and the stuff he has done away from the game itself has been very good,” Stokes had said.

Bashir comes back to the side after missing the previous game, replacing the struggling Ahmed.

England playing XI for 4th Test:

Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Ben Stokes (C), Jonny Bairstow, Ben Foakes (wk), Tom Hartley, Ollie Robinson, Shoaib Bashir and James Anderson