Michael Vaughan, former England captain notes Ravindra Jadeja bowling into the rough outside the off-stump could be the biggest threat England face on the final day of the fourth Test at The Oval. England has fielded six left-handers in their batting unit, and the rough has developed outside the off-stump for Ravindra Jadeja to operate.
In the 1st innings, the spinner accounted for the wickets of Moeen Ali and Ollie Robinson. He has now taken 225 wickets averaging 25.1 in Tests. He has taken 5 wickets 9 times. His best performance in Tests is 7 wickets for 48 runs. At the same time, Ravindra Jadeja has also scored 2145 runs at an average of 34.05 with a century in Tests.
Michael Vaughan: Rory Burns Showed Great Technique And Character
Ravindra Jadeja bowled 13 overs in the final session of Day 4 but failed to clinch a wicket despite making use of the rough. Michael Vaughan lauded the technique displayed by England openers Haseeb Hameed and Rory Burns and outlined the threat posed by Ravindra Jadeja.
While speaking to Cricbuzz, he said: “Rory Burns against Jadeja, with the ball spinning out from the rough, he showed great technique, and great character. That looks like the major threat from an England perspective, Jadeja firing it into the rough.”
The surface at The Oval displayed some traits for a spin, with Moeen Ali and Joe Root being among the wickets in the second innings. India only has Ravindra Jadeja as the lone spin bowling option at the moment among their ranks.
Michael Vaughan: India May Need To Think Outside The Box
Michael Vaughan was asked about his approach on Day 5 from Team India’s point of view. The former captain believes Virat Kohli needs to keep it simple and orthodox for the first half an hour of the day’s play by starting with Jadeja right away. If that approach does not bring any kind of success, Michael Vaughan feels that India may need to think outside the box.
Michael Vaughan added: “I think Virat needs to keep it simple for the first half an hour. I’d go with Jadeja, without any question you start with your spinner. Try to fire it into the rough outside Burns’ off stump. If it doesn’t work for them, they have to realise that it is like a subcontinent style pitch and think outside the box. I’m looking for someone like Bumrah to bowl the slower balls. Those kind of deliveries will be very important.”
England finished Day 4 at 77-0 by battling out the entirety of the final session. The fixture is well poised at the moment with the hosts needing 291 more runs to win the match while India needs to claim all the 10 wickets to take a 2-1 lead in the series. Openers Rory Burns and Haseeb Hameed gave England a solid start as they ended at 77/0 at Stump’s on Day 4 of the fourth Test at The Oval.
At Stump’s, England still needed 291 more runs to win the Test match. Earlier, Shardul Thakur and Rishabh Pant scored incredible individual fifties as they propelled India to 466 runs in the second innings. India started the day poorly as they lost the wickets of Virat Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja, and Ajinkya Rahane in the morning session.
Shardul Thakur (60 off 72) struck his second fifty of the match and shared a hundred-run stand with Rishabh Pant (50 off 106) to put India in a strong position. India’s innings lasted 148.2 overs. Resuming the day at 270 for three, India lost three wickets in the morning session including skipper Virat Kohli (44 off 96).
England 290 and 77 for 0 (Hameed 43*, Burns 31*) need 291 more runs to beat India 191 and 466 (Rohit 127, Pujara 61, Thakur 60, Pant 50, Woakes 3-83)