How India fought back on Day 3 courtesy: Dhruv Jurel and the spinners

Day 3 saw an Indian comeback and them taking full control of the game. Let’s take a look at how the day panned out.

Day 3: First Session:

Dhruv Jurel and Kuldeep Yadav pile on the runs: Dhruv Jurel and Kuldeep Yadav continued their resistance on the third day as they added another 34 runs to their overnight score. With this stand, the score moved to 253/7. This session also saw Jurel bring up his first test fifty.

Dhruv Jurel and Kuldeep Yadav shared a 76 run stand for the eighth wicket to rescue India
Source: https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/england-in-india-2023-24-1389386/india-vs-england-4th-test-1389402/match-photo

James Anderson strikes for England: James Anderson struck for England as he removed Kuldeep Yadav for 28 runs. With this wicket, the score moved to 253/8. But, the question now is:

Question:

What went wrong for Kuldeep?

Answer:

It was an unlucky dismissal as he hopped to defend a short ball from Anderson but instead chopped it onto his stumps.

James Anderson ended Kuldeep Yadav's resistance on Day 3
Source: https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/england-in-india-2023-24-1389386/india-vs-england-4th-test-1389402/match-photo

Dhruv Jurel and Akash Deep frustrate England: After dismissing Kuldeep for 28 runs, England would have hoped to end the Indian innings quickly but that didn’t happen as Jurel and Akash Deep added another 40 runs to frustrate England. With this stand, the score moved to 293/8. But, the question now is:

Question:

Why couldn’t England bowl India out?

Answer:

With only the bowlers left for company, Dhruv Jurel started playing his shots and he was also helped by some poor bowling from the spinners as they bowled too many overpitched deliveries which cost their team.

Dhruv Jurel takes India to 307: A gutsy 90 run knock from Dhruv Jurel took India to 307 and reduced the deficit to just 46 runs. Shoaib Bashir was the star for England as he finished with a fifer while Tom Hartley bagged 3 and Anderson finished with two to his name.

Day 3: Second Session:

India strike early: India struck early in the second session courtesy- Ravichandran Ashwin as he dismissed Ben Duckett and Ollie Pope in quick succession. With these quick wickets, the score moved to 19/2. But the question now is:

Question:

What went wrong for England?

Answer:

Well, it was a soft dismissal for Duckett as he was caught at Forward Short Leg while defending while Pope played for the turn off Ashwin but the ball went straight on and he missed it to be LBW.

Ashwin picked up two early wickets in England's second innings as he dismissed Ben Duckett and Ollie Pope in quick succession. He also dismissed Joe Root, Ben Foakes and James Anderson to finish with a fifer
Source: https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/england-in-india-2023-24-1389386/india-vs-england-4th-test-1389402/match-photo

Zak Crawley and Joe Root counterattack: After losing two quick wickets, Zak Crawley and Joe Root counterattacked for England with a 46 run stand for the third wicket. With this stand, the score moved to 65/2. But, the question now is:

Question:

Why did India let it slip?

Answer:

Despite the ball turning from the fuller length area, both Ashwin and Jadeja continued to bowl overpitched deliveries and paid the price.

Ashwin strikes again: After the 46 run stand between Crawley and Root, Ashwin struck again as he dismissed Joe Root for 11 runs. With this wicket, the score moved to 65/3. But, the question now is:

Question:

Why did Root get out?

Answer:

It was an unlucky dismissal as he missed a straight one from Ashwin to be LBW.

Zak Crawley and Jonny Bairstow keep the momentum going: Even after losing Joe Root, England continued to attack through a 45 run stand between Crawley and Bairstow. With this stand, the score moved to 110/3. During this stand, Crawley also brought up his 13th Test fifty. But, the question is:

Question:

What went wrong for India?

Answer:

Mohammed Siraj, bowling his first spell was off colour as he sprayed the ball either down leg or on the batters pads while Jadeja also bowled too many lose deliveries and paid the price.

Zak Crawley's 13th Test fifty steadied England in their second innings
Source: https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/england-in-india-2023-24-1389386/india-vs-england-4th-test-1389402/match-photo

England lose two quick wickets: After the 45 run stand between Crawley and Bairstow, England lost two quick wickets as Crawley (60 runs) and Stokes both got out. With these quick wickets, 110/3 swiftly became 120/5. With these quick wickets, tea was also taken. But, the question now is:

Question:

Why did England lose their way?

Answer:

The pitch had started to deteriorate and with some balls shooting up from the fuller length area and some keeping really low, Kuldeep Yadav eventually dismissed both Stokes and Crawley. With these quick wickets, tea was also taken.

Kuldeep Yadav gave England a double blow just before the tea break as he dismissed Zak Crawley and Ben Stokes in quick succession. He also dismissed Tom Hartley and Ollie Robinson to finish with a four fer
Source: https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/england-in-india-2023-24-1389386/india-vs-england-4th-test-1389402/match-photo

Day 3: Third Session:

England suffer dramatic collapse: England suffered a dramatic collapse in the third session on Day 3 as they lost their last 5 wickets for 25 runs. But, the question now is:

Question:

Why did England collapse?

Answer:

As mentioned above, the pitch had started to deteriorate thus making batting very tough. The spin trio of Ashwin, Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav took full advantage of the conditions on offer as they shared all ten wickets between them with Ashwin alone picking 5 and completing his 35th fifer in Test Cricket. With this collapse, India was given a target of 192 runs.

Apart from Ashwin and Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja also picked up the wicket of Jonny Bairstow and made his presence felt
Source: https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/england-in-india-2023-24-1389386/india-vs-england-4th-test-1389402/match-photo

India Second Innings:

Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal take India to Stumps: An unbeaten 40 run stand between the openers took India to Stumps and they now stand only 152 runs away from taking an unassailable 3–1 lead in the test series.

As seen from the above analysis, India made a solid comeback led by Dhruv Jurel with the bat and the spinners with the ball. England let the game drift as they couldn’t bowl India out after having them reeling at 177/7 in their first innings and then having collapsed with the bat in the second innings have blown away their chances of winning the game. No matter how the pitch plays on Day 4, India should come out winners tomorrow.

Brief Scores:

England First Innings: 353/10 (Joe Root- 122*, Ollie Robinson- 58, Ben Foakes- 47, Zak Crawley- 42, Ravindra Jadeja- 4/67, Akash Deep- 3/83, Mohammed Siraj- 2/78, Ashwin- 1/83)

India First Innings: 307/10 (Dhruv Jurel- 90, Yashasvi Jaiswal- 73, Shubman Gill- 38, Kuldeep Yadav- 28, Shoaib Bashir- 5/119, Tom Hartley- 3/68, James Anderson- 2/48)

England Second Innings: 145/10 (Zak Crawley- 60, Jonny Bairstow- 30, Ben Foakes- 17, Ashwin- 5/51, Kuldeep Yadav- 4/22, Ravindra Jadeja- 1/56)

India Second Innings: 40/0 (Rohit Sharma- 24*, Yashasvi Jaiswal- 16*)

Note: I do not own any of these images. The credit for these images goes to espncricinfo.com. These images have been used to show what happened during the game.