India lost a heartbreaking game at Lord's, with the last two wickets batting at a run rate of 1.65 runs an over, and the established batter Ravindra Jadeja making 44 in 128. His slow-go approach to the chase does not call for criticism, however, writes Sarah Waris.
There was a moment at Lord’s when Ravindra Jadeja held his pose after a solid block, the crowd rising not for a milestone or a boundary, but for the grit of one more delivery survived. A block that meant India, against every odd, were still in the game.
At 112-8, with 81 runs still needed and only Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj left to accompany him, it wasn’t supposed to last long. India’s much-talked-about batting depth had deserted them when it mattered most, and it was now over to the tail, not known for producing miracles. Bumrah was walking out to bat with four ducks in a row, and six in his last seven Test innings. Siraj, with a Test batting average of 4.89, would comfortably bat at No.11 in a side of No.11s. It was mere formality.
And yet, for the next 35.1 overs, India blocked and breathed.
If India were to pull off a miracle, it had to be Jadeja, coming into the innings with three consecutive fifties, who had to shape the chase on his terms. Not known to be the smartest while batting with the tailenders, he responded with a mature approach grounded in realism. The situation demanded control more than flourish. Jadeja had to protect the last two batters without letting the chase stall entirely. India did not lack time, and so, Jadeja chose to slow the game down, absorb pressure, and place trust in Bumrah and Siraj to survive just enough balls to keep the dream alive.
Earlier, albeit shortly, he had successfully done the same with Nitish Kumar Reddy, with the duo switching together 30 in 14.5 overs, surviving a phase of intense, quick and fiery bowling from England. That period offered a glimpse of what was to come, and Jadeja was ready.
Phase 1: With Bumrah
Unlike with Reddy, Jadeja had to shield Bumrah. He needed to farm the strike and then defend like his life depended on it, much like Andy Dufresne in The Shawshank Redemption, who chipped away silently and patiently, as he realised that escape lay not in panic, but in perseverance.
And that’s exactly what he did. Bumrah faced the first ball of an over only four times in a partnership that lasted 22 overs. Bumrah’s defence improved as he got his eye in. By that stage of the innings, the ball was over 40 overs old and the surface had slowed down considerably. With minimal pace and bounce on offer, Bumrah was able to present a straight bat and play within the line without being severely challenged.
For Jadeja, this meant he could afford to retain strike for the bulk of the over while trusting Bumrah to safely negotiate a handful of deliveries.
With England pushing fielders to the boundary, even his cleanest punches weren’t racing away. Not the biggest striker of the ball either, Jadeja looked to instead work in singles. Here too, he faced a hurdle as several twos were reduced to dots after they were turned down by Bumrah, not the quickest between the wickets. On air, Dinesh Karthik highlighted how Jadeja’s instinct to steal a quick run was often met with a firm “no” from the other end.
Eventually, Bumrah fell to temptation as he tried to pull across the line to accelerate. With 46 more needed to win, it was surely over now.
Phase 2: With Siraj
Not yet.
If the partnership with Bumrah was tense, the one with Siraj was even more precarious. But Jadeja’s approach remained the same: minimise Siraj’s exposure but trust his partner enough to give him a few deliveries to survive towards the end of every over.
Jadeja allowed Siraj to face the first ball of an over only twice and only the last two balls eight times, carefully managing each over to control the strike. In response, Siraj held his end up well. He played straight, avoided chasing wide deliveries, and showed more composure than expected, even in the face of loopy tempters from Shoab Bashir. The pair added 23 runs across 13.2 overs, stretching the innings longer than many thought possible and keeping the contest alive deep into the final session.
It was slow, yes. But it wasn't aimless. Risk was weighed and kept out, and for every run that didn’t come, there was a wicket that didn’t fall. That was the trade-off. And it was working.
Until, suddenly, it didn’t.
Bashir, with a fractured left hand, bowled a loopy off-break tossed wide of off. Siraj shaped to defend from the crease. On other days, he would have been proud of how he middled the ball. Not today. The ball spun in, before rolling on towards the leg stump. ‘Stop’, you screamed. ‘Look out Siraj’. Before he knew, it was bail off, game over.
England erupted. Siraj was stunned, crestfallen. Joe Root consoled him. Jadeja walked over emotionless, drained, heartbroken. Ben Stokes hugged him. This was Test cricket at its most raw, a mutual acknowledgement of a thriller that neither side will forget.
By the end, you're left to ask: Could Jadeja have done more? Could he have taken the game by the scruff, and found a way to hit a few more boundaries? After India were eight down, he struck just three fours and a six. Maybe five attacking shots more, and the result could have been different. But the conditions didn’t allow it: the ball had gone soft, the field was spread, and Jadeja isn’t someone who manufactures boundaries out of nowhere. It was as much about what he trusted himself to do as it was about the match situation. And in that moment, he backed his defence, his control, and his ability to manage the strike far more than his ability to clear the ropes against charged up bowlers bowling with a ball that won't travel the distance.
Because if he fell, it was over. There was no safety net. And so, he did what he could. He took the responsibility, the strike, and the pressure. He made 61 off 181, an innings, that on another day would have got a different ending. But that doesn’t change what it was: a masterclass in survival, in match awareness, and in the quiet defiance that Test cricket, at its best, demands. In the middle of Lord’s, with defeat circling and hope nearly gone, he kept India alive. If anything, he should be hailed for it.
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