It has been quite a while that India haven’t won a test match outside the subcontinent and the day has finally arrived when an Indian eleven has got better of a team from outside the sub-continent that too in their own backyard.
It has been quite an occasion as one of the most exciting cricket fairy-tale unfolded at the Lord’s as India out-bounced England in England. Not many would have thought that even in the wildest of their dreams but quite queerly it is now a reality. And Ishant Sharma is the man who has done this unthinkable. Five of six wickets that have fallen on the final day went to Ishant Sharma and all were to short of length deliveries. It all began with the dismissal of Moeen Ali (39) on the final ball before lunch when he fended one to short leg while Ishant targeted his ribs. And it ended with Stuart Broad’s dismissal who gloved it to the keeper while taking evasive action to Ishant’s short pitch bowling. Before that England had lost Matt Prior (12), Ben Stokes (0) and Joe Root (66), all getting out trying to take on the short balls. The final wicket fell when Ravindra Jadeja ran James Anderson out while trying to sneak in a single with the scoreboard reading England falling 95 short of their target of 319. It was in a way a revenge for Jadeja as he now has the last laugh over Anderson and it’s sure that things will get much warmer when these two teams face each other once again within a few days time.
Regarding selecting the man of the match the judges did not have to work hard for it was a heck of a performance from Ishant Sharma. But it was never a one man show; rather it was a win where everyone made their contributions. Starting from Rahane’s hundred in the first innings in the first day of the test match to Jadeja’s all-round performance in the second half of the match- it was a team victory. Pujara’s gritty knocks in both innings went unnoticed but it was actually couple of gem of innings that set the platform for India’s solid batting performance on a pitch where the bowlers got assistance from time to time. In the end it was a well-deserved win for India- a win that will surely bring back much of the glory that has been lost over the last few years.
