London [UK], July 14 : Following his side's narrow 22-run loss to England in the third Test at Lord's, Indian skipper Shubman Gill hailed all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, who played a hard-fought knock of 61* while chasing 193, as one of team's "most valuable players" and lauded the resistence shown by the lower-order.
In a gripping final day of cricket at Lord's, a resilient Indian unit fell short of a series lead. Jadeja's half-century was complemented well by efforts from tailenders Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj. While the volume of runs was not massive from these two, the number of balls they faced, 84 combined, gave Jadeja the liberty to put up a fight. But it was not meant to be for the visitors.
Speaking after the match during the post-match presser, Gill said about Jadeja, "He is one of India's most valuable players. The skill set that he brings with his bowling, batting and fielding, he is someone that is very rare and hard to find. The kind of composure that he showed today, 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 has not been contributing as much. But I think the character and the courage that they showed was tremendous," he added.
Team India conceded 63 extras in the match, as compared to 30 by England. Gill admitted that while the team has got better with their fielding, they are still trying to minimise these "unforced errors".
"We could have stopped. But we did not pay much attention to that. We thought it was a 190 and chaseable at the end of the day. We just have to play 20-25 overs well. We have to try to get a 50-run partnership or a couple of those. The deeper the match, the easier it will be for us," he added.
He also hailed England skipper Ben Stokes' spell on the final day during the first session, saying, "I think he bowled 11 overs on the trot. Never easy coming in. The kind of efforts that he and his team put in, it was truly commendable to see."
England won the toss and opted to bat first. England was reduced to 44/2, but a 109-run stand between Ollie Pope (44 in 104 balls, with four boundaries) and Joe Root (104 in 199 balls, with 10 fours) and a counter-attacking 84 run stand for the eighth wicket stand between Brydon Carse (56 in 83 balls, with six fours and a six) and Jamie Smith (51 in 56 balls, with six fours) took England to 387.
Jasprit Bumrah (5/74) was the highlight for India with the ball.
In the second innings, India lost Yashasvi Jaiswal early, but a 61-run stand between Karun Nair (26 in 46 balls, with five fours) and KL Rahul and a 141-run stand between KL (100 in 177 balls, with 13 fours) and Rishabh Pant (74 in 112 balls, with eight fours and two sixes) took India close to England's score.
A brilliant half-century from Ravindra Jadeja (72 in 131 balls, with eight fours and a six) and lower-order contributions from Nitish Kumar Reddy (30) and Washington Sundar (23) took India to 387, with nothing separating the sides.
Chris Woakes (3/84) was the top bowler for England in this innings.
In England's second innings, India continuously kept England under pressure, except for a 67-run fifth wicket stand between Root (40 in 96 balls, with a four) and Stokes (33 in 96 balls, with three fours). Sundar (4/22) delivered a game-changer spell, running through the middle-order and bundling out England for 192. India was set 193 to win.
During the run-chase, Team India was reduced to 82/7. However, Jadeja (61* in 181 balls, with four boundaries and a six) was not in a mood to give up. He put up resilient partnerships with the lower-order batters that put England under tension, but Mohammed Siraj's unlucky dismissal, where the ball spun back to the stumps following its landing on the pitch hurt a million of hearts as India was bundled out for 170.
India trails 1-2 in the series. Stokes won the 'Player of the Match' for his handy knocks of 44 and 33 and total of five wickets in the match, including a three-wicket haul taken in the second innings taken in tandem with Jofra Archer, who also got three wickets.