India batter Virat Kohli, who is missing the ongoing India v England Test series owing to personal reasons, was ecstatic after the Rohit Sharma-led side won the fourth Test in Ranchi and pocketed the series with a lead of 3-1 with one more Test to go.
It was a gripping Test thanks to an interesting pitch at the JSCA Stadium in Ranchi. England posted 353 runs thanks to Joe Root’s brilliant century after choosing to bat first. India responded well with Yashasvi Jaiswal (73) and Dhruv Jurel (90) leading the Indian charge as the hosts made 307, keeping the deficit to 46 runs only.
Then R Ashwin and Kuldeep Yadav spun a web around the England batters in the second innings. Ashwin with 5/51 and Kuldeep with 4/22 kept England to 145 runs, giving India 192 runs to win the Test.
India responded well as Rohit Sharma hit 52, while Yashasvi Jaiswal made 37, as the openers put on 84 runs. But then Shoaib Bashir took 3 quick wickets to peg India back. But then Shubman Gill (52*) and Jurel (39*) added 72* runs for the 6th wicket to take India home with 5 wickets in hand.
With this win, India pocketed the series with a lead of 3-1, and the last Test will be played in Dharamshala from March 7 onwards.
There were many reactions to this hard-fought Indian team win, but Virat Kohli, who has been missing in action, was on cloud nine and shared his joy on social media.
He posted: “YES!!! Phenomenal series win by our young team. Showed grit, determination, and resilience.”