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SPORTS FEBRUARY 23, 2024 | The Indian Eye 44

two back-to-back attacking fifties on of the Test against England due to a
his international debut. family medical emergency.
Ashwin missed the third day of
“Double hundred. Double fifty. the Test match due to personal rea-
sons. Ashwin participated in the first
This duo of Yashasvi & Sarfaraz two days, taking his 500th Test wick-
has been double trouble for En- et on day two, but had to miss the
day three. Later on, day four, which
gland. I couldn’t watch them also proved to be the final day of ac-

play live, but was very pleased tion as India crushed England by 434
runs, Ashwin returned.
to hear about their knocks. Having expressed a desire to
Keep it up!,” Sachin wrote on X. take part in the remainder of the
match, Ashwin managed to take to
the field by the Tea session, the fi-
On day four, Gill and Kuldeep
continued to stitch yet another nal session of the day. He returned
to the venue via a charter flight ar-
partnership, which ended with Gill ranged by BCCI and even managed
heartbreakingly missing his fourth to take the wicket of Tom Hartley,
Test ton due to a run-out, scoring his second in the game.
91 in 151 balls, with nine fours and
two sixes. Kuldeep also made a solid
27 in 91 balls, leaving India at 258/4. “R Ashwin took the field at tea
From this point on, Jaiswal resumed on Day 4 of India’s third Test
his innings with fellow Mumbai star
Sarfaraz Khan. Both took the En- versus England at Rajkot after
glish spinners to cleaners. attending a family emergency
Jaiswal scored his second dou-
ble-century in Tests after scoring his in Chennai. Ashwin’s rejoining
first one in the last Test. A key high- could happen due to timely in-
light of his knock was smashing vet-
eran pace legend James Anderson tervention by Jay Shah, the hon-
for a hat-trick of sixes. Sarfaraz also orary secretary of the Board
scored his back-to-back half-cen-
tury on Test debut. India ended the of Control for Cricket in India
innings at 430/4, with Jaiswal (214* (BCCI),” said a statement from
in 236 balls, 14 fours and 12 sixes)
and Sarfaraz (68* in 72 balls, with six the board secretary’s office.
fours and three sixes) unbeaten to
form a 172-run partnership for the “Shah promptly organised a
fifth wicket. charter flight to facilitate Ashwin’s
Joe Root, Tom Hartley and Re-
han Ahmed took a wicket each for travel from Chennai to Rajkot once
the champion bowler decided to
England. return to the national duty. Having
Earlier, England in their first
inning scored 319 runs in reply to developed a reputation as a “players’
administrator”, Shah swiftly swung
India’s 445 runs in their first inning. into action and organised a charter
Though Ben Duckett (153 in 151 Yashasvi Jaiswal (left) celebrates his double century with Sarfaraz Khan on Day 4 of the 3rd plane on Sunday morning after Ash-
balls, with 23 fours and two sixes) Test match against England (ANI Photo) win expressed his desire to return for
scored the fastest century by an En- the fourth innings after leaving the
glish player in India, no other batter Stadium in Rajkot on Sunday, for- “England lost the last 18 wickets team midway through the game.”
could give him much support. Skip- mer skipper Michael Vaughan took for 234 inside 75 overs .. a warning “Shah has thus exemplified
per Stokes (41 in 89 balls, with six to social media and said that En- sign to them in tough conditions his nature of going all out to make
fours) and Pope (39 in 55 balls, with gland’s performance is a “wake-up against a good side that if you give cricketers comfortable. After all,
five fours and a six) played some de- call” that they cannot play in one them a sniff things can escalate very cricketers are the major pillar of In-
cent knocks. particular way against quality teams. quickly. India have been brilliant dian cricket. Earlier in the week, he
Siraj was the pick of the bowlers
“Even when this England team
for India with 4/84, while Kuldeep have lost in the last 2 years you have this last 2 days,” the former England had backed Virat Kohli for skipping
the Test series against England. Re-
skipper wrote in another tweet.
Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja took two always been able to take positives .. specting a veteran batter’s right for
wickets each. Jasprit Bumrah and or they haven’t been hammered ... Ashwin made return to field personal leave after a prolonged ca-
Ravichandran Ashwin managed a this is looking like a wake up call that reer, Shah had stressed on trusting
scalp each, with the latter reaching surely sends a message you can’t just via charter flight and backing players.
his 500th Test wicket as well.
play one way against quality teams,” he Board of Control for Shah’s gesture towards helping
A wake-up call: Vaughan on Vaughan wrote on X. Cricket in India (BCCI) or- Ashwin resume the national duty
He said that India’s domination Tganised a charter flight for In-
England’s loss is a warning sign for England that dian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin despite a domestic crisis is nothing
but another example of his and the
Following a 434-run victory if they give a quality side a “sniff”, to make his return to the team after BCCI’s focus on backing cricketers,”
against England at Niranjan Shah things can escalate quickly. he was forced to miss the third day concluded the statement.

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