India won by 5 wkts
PLAYER OF THE MATCH : Dhruv Jurel
Batter
Bowler
No Kohli for the entire series, no KL Rahul for three Tests, no Jadeja for a Test, no Ashwin for half-a-Test, no Bumrah for the 4th Test - India were deprived of some serious talent and were up against the 'Bazballers' of England, but it's Rohit Sharma's men who've had the last laugh. They'll go to Dharamsala hoping to put the icing on the cake and one of India's prettiest venues will look forward to a fitting finale to what has been a superb Test series. 17th consecutive Test series wins at home for India, they're now only behind Australia's 28. For Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum, this is their first series loss and a galling one at that. They do have a chance to bounce back and end their India tour on a good note in Dharamsala. For India, it's all about taking the series by a 4-1 margin. A small break before the two teams meet each other on the 7th in the hills. We'll be back covering each and every bit of action. For now, cheers and bye..
Dhruv Jurel | Player of the Match - I play according to the demands of the situation. The 1st 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 2nd innings), we just broke it into 10-run sets and started developing the partnership.
Rohit Sharma - 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. Really proud of everyone in the dressing room. They were a lot of challenges thrown at us but I thought we responded pretty well. We had different challenges in different Test matches and I thought we were quite composed in what we wanted to achieve and what we wanted to do on the field, very happy. Clearly tells me they (youngsters) want to be here, all the hard work they have done in the past, coming up playing domestic cricket and performing there, coming here it is a big challenge but when I look at them, talk to them and the responses that I get from them is quite encouraging. My job and Rahul Bhai's job is to give them the environment they want to be in and they don't feel too much about going out there and getting the job done, they want to get the job done but there's no point to keep talking about it or reminding them about it because they are very clear in what they want to do. Jurel playing his second Test showed solid composure, calmness and he's got the shots as well to play all around the wicket. The first innings 90 of his was very crucial for us to get close to that England's total and again in the second innings showed lot of maturity, composure along with Gill. It is not pleasing when you miss your key players, but you can do nothing as a group. Those guys (Kohli and Co.) are proven players in every condition and to come in and fill their shoes was not easy for these guys. There was pressure from the outside not inside but I thought they responded very well to all the situations. When you make a mark like that, it holds you in good position to have a long career. Performances like this will motivate them and make sure whenever the opportunity comes they are ready for it. We turn up for every Test wanting to win no matter what has happened in the past. Obviously this has been a great series but we want to make sure we turn up for that (Dharamsala Test) game and put our best foot forward. Some of these guys were not used to playing a 5-match series but they have showed a lot of calmness and composure. I am confident we will put up the same show as the last three Test matches.
Ben Stokes - 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 it happened. 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. 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. 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. So is Bashir, what a story, what a journey, taking 8 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. 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.
Stats dug up by Deepu Narayanan
- Tenth Test defeat for Stokes, Root & Anderson in India - the joint most for a player alongside Ricky Ponting.
India chasing under 200 at home
Instances: 33
Won: 30
Drawn: 3
Lost: 0
- First successful 150+ chase in India since 2013. The last came against Australia in Delhi in March 2013 (India won by six wickets).
India winning a series after being 0-1 down
2-1(5) vs Eng 1972/73
2-1(3) vs Aus 2000/01
2-1(3) vs SL 2015
2-1(4) vs Aus 2016/17
2-1(4) vs Aus 2020/21
3-1(4) vs Eng 2020/21
3-1(4*) vs Eng 2023/24
- 17th successive series win for India at home.
- This is first series defeat for England under Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum.
Also, the first time they have lost three Tests in succession.
Shubman Gill: We were put under pressure by them, but we got a good start by our openers, losing couple of wickets put pressure. But Jurel came out and took the pressure off. You have to see the situation and play accordingly - they were bowling well and protecting the boundaries, also not giving maidens and keep picking the singles (was the mindset). I just told him (Jurel) you batted beautifully in the first innings and to have the same mindset, try to use the feet to negate the off-spinner. The way he came down and played was beautiful. The first innings the ball was not turning much and hence I didn't use my feet, but second innings I decided to take the LBW out of the equation by using my feet. It means the world to us, coming here and having to play the series with not much batting experience, having lost KL after the first Test.. but Rohit Bhai backed us and gave us the confidence to go out and play with freedom.
Having started today's play at 40 for 0, India quickly went from 84 for 0 to 120 for 5 and the demons of Hyderabad would've certainly been in the minds of the Indians - not for Shubman Gill and Dhruv Jurel, the two youngsters batted beautifully, rotated the strike and then burst the tap open when victory was in sight. For a change, it was England's spinners who lost the plot - Bashir was once again excellent, but Hartley did struggle for consistency. Stokes kept changing the field, kept enticing the batters into false shots, but it was India's day and they romped home with 5 wickets to spare. 3-1 with a Test to go in Dharamsala, the series is won, but there're 12 WTC points up for grabs. That's the beauty of Test cricket now and both teams will look to finish the series on a high.
Day 1 started with India having England on the mat at 112 for 5, but Joe Root capitalised on Bumrah's absence to make a sparkling 121* as the visitors rallied. 352 was a par score on this surface, but it quickly became evident that this wasn't a high-scoring ground. India slipped from 86 for 1 to 176 for 7 late on Day 2 and there were whispers of the series getting levelled, but then came Dhruv Jurel. The youngster, batting in just his second Test, showed immense character and spirit - he forged useful stands with Kuldeep and Akash Deep, reducing the deficit to a mere 46, with a battling 90. Having battled back into contention, India bared their fangs in England's second innings - Zak Crawley made 60, but Ashwin grabbed his 35th Test 5-wicket haul to skittle them out for 145, leaving India to get 192 for a historic series victory.
13:40 Local Time, 08:10 GMT, 13:40 IST: A tantalising Test that went right to the wire and it's India who have emerged victorious. 3-1 it is and they've wrapped up another home series victory. The players shake hands and Jurel gets a big round of hugs - Rahul Dravid is smiling, so is Rohit Sharma. They have been tested to the limits, panicked in Hyderabad and gift-wrapped a Test win to England. But they've come roaring back with wins in Vizag, Rajkot and now Ranchi, this will be the sweetest of the trio, they lost the toss, they had to bat last and they've beaten the odds.
END OF OVER 61
6 Runs
IND: 192 - 5
0 4 0 0 0 2
Dhruv Jurel
39 (77)
Shubman Gill
52 (124)
Tom Hartley
25-2-70-1
Tom Hartley to Dhruv Jurel, 2 runs, Jurel wins the Test, Dhruv Jurel wins the series for India - a warm hug as he runs across to Shubman Gill, the unbeaten 72* run stand taking India to an unassailable 3-1 series lead. The dressing room is all smiles, has been a hard-fought Test, but India won the big moments on Day 3 and 4. Was tossed up on the leg-stump line, nudged behind square on the on-side and Jurel rushes back for the second
Tom Hartley to Dhruv Jurel, no run, flighted delivery on the leg-stump line, Jurel leans across and turns it to mid-wicket
Tom Hartley to Dhruv Jurel, no run, slower and on off, blocked back at the bowler
Tom Hartley to Dhruv Jurel, no run, tossed up just outside off, defended to the off-side
Tom Hartley to Dhruv Jurel, FOUR, clubbed, dropped short by Hartley - Jurel rocks back and is slightly cramped for room, but he goes through with the pull and places it wide of mid-wicket - India 2 runs away
Tom Hartley to Dhruv Jurel, no run, flatter and at the stumps, whip-pulled to mid-on