Team India lost the third Test against England at Lord’s by 22 runs while chasing 193 in the fourth innings. As a result, the Shubman Gill-led side conceded 1-2 lead to England in the five-match series.

Resuming the final day at 58/4, Ravindra Jadeja was India's only hope for a miracle after Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer caused another collapse early on Day 5, leaving the visitors eight down in their chase of 193.

The all-rounder put up a brave fight alongside No. 10 Jasprit Bumrah and last man Mohammed Siraj, scoring the slowest fifty in his Test career. England were left frustrated by Jadeja's presence since they had anticipated wrapping up the game in the first session itself.

However, several experts and former cricketers, including Sunil Gavaskar, Anil Kumble, R Ashwin among others, have questioned Jadeja's conservative approach in the chase as he remained unbeaten on 61 off 181 balls with four boundaries and one six.

Meanwhile, Jadeja’s valiant effort was acknowledged by veteran batter Cheteshwar Pujara, who felt it was unfair to criticize the all-rounder.

"He couldn't have scored faster on that track. I felt that it was because the ball was soft, and the pitch was on the slower side. I guess, Jadeja would have thought that the tailenders were batting well and the team was getting close to the total. And once they were a little closer he would have taken his chances. I thought he was batting well. It was very difficult to score runs on that pitch," Pujara was quoted as saying by The Indian Express.

"The only thing he could have done better is to look to score down the ground. Like there was a gap between mid-off and cover," he added.

Jadeja’s approach was to take a single on the 5th or 6th ball of the over to prevent either Bumrah or Siraj from facing too many balls.

According to Pujara, Jadeja has shown significant improvement in his batting, especially in overseas conditions, which should be lauded.

"For the last five years, he has improved, especially abroad. He has been working hard. If you notice, even on the match day, he does his net practice. He has shown improvement when playing pace," said Pujara.

"Earlier, it was the case of him not converting his good starts to big scores at the highest level. See one can't get 300 in first-class cricket without skills. But you need to convert, like you do at first-class level, at international level," he remarked.

Pujara was impressed with how Jadeja was able to tackle seamers in English conditions these days.

"He is now able to face seamers and spinners equally well. Earlier, he was a good player of spin but lacked a little bit of strength against seamers, which is not the case now."