His experience and skill set are rare: Gill lauds Jadeja for taking the game deep at Lord's

London, July 15 (IANS) India skipper Shubman Gill lauded senior allrounder Ravindra Jadeja and the team's lower order for keeping the contest alive and pushing the Lord's Test into the final session, with India coming close to a remarkable victory before falling short by 22 runs.

Resuming from 58/4, England’s fast bowlers were right on the money as India were eight down when lunch break came. But Ravindra Jadeja refused to buckle in, hitting a gritty and magnificent 61 not out off 181 balls, stitching patient and resolute stands of 30, 35 and 23 with Nitish Reddy, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj, respectively, to drag India close.

Despite Jadeja and the lower-order giving it their all, India were so close yet so far to registering a miraculous victory by being bowled out for 170 in 74.5 overs.

Gill reserved special praise for the standout all-rounder, who notched up his fourth consecutive half-century of the series and played a crucial role on the final day, scoring 61 of the team’s 99 runs while facing 30 of the 55 overs during his gritty stay at the crease.

"He (Jadeja) is one of the most valuable players in India. I think the experience that he brings in, the skill set that he brings with his bowling, batting and fielding is something that is very rare and hard to find. And the kind of composure that he showed today, it was just tremendous to watch.

"I think batting with the lower order of the tail has been one of the things that we spoke about in the previous two matches, that our lower order of the tail hasn't been contributing as much. But I think the character and the courage that they showed was tremendous.

"The way we were in the game till the end, it felt like we could go very close if a partnership had added another 10 runs. And I think it's a very proud effort from the team," he added.

England were put on course for a memorable win when Stokes and Archer picked three wickets, including of Rishabh Pant and KL Rahul, in the first hour, before Woakes took out Nitish Kumar Reddy at the stroke of lunch.

"I think we didn't play as well yesterday and today. I think in the top order, it was important that if we had a partnership of one or two (pairs) worth 50 runs, then we would have seen that after 30-40 overs, it would have been easier to bat. So, that was our effort. But unfortunately, I think this is the first time that we didn't perform as well as we have done in the series. But it happens sometimes," Gill admitted.

"We thought 193 was still chaseable at the end of the day. We had to play 20-25 overs well. We had to try to have a 50-run partnership or two 50-run partnerships. The deeper the match, the easier it would have been for us," he said.

--IANS

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