RAJKOT: When Yashasvi Jaiswal walked out to bat again on Sunday, it was after a heartbreak. Taking the long walk back to the dressing room was an incredibly disappointed Shubman Gill — who was run out on 91. The India’s No. 3 had looked solid all morning and was all set for another century.
That was when Kuldeep Yadav called for a single, Gill was watching the ball while running, before seeing the night-watchman saying ‘No’. By the time Gill panickingly tried to return with a full length dive, he was caught short at the non-striker’s end. As the giant display showed the replay, Kuldeep sank to his knees. Gill, understandably frustrated hit his bat on the pads before walking back to the pavilion. At this point, the scoreboard read 246/3. England still had a chance to induce a collapse and have a crack at whatever target they had in front of them. When Kuldeep got out shortly after, they smelled a chance. The lead was just over 380 — it was still less than the target England had in Visakhapatnam.
That is when one Mumbaikar, Sarfaraz Khan, joined another, Jaiswal, in the middle. Now, Jaiswal had already crossed his hundred and Sarfaraz had perhaps missed his in the first innings. Here, with the stage set, the duo turned Niranjan Shah Stadium into Azad Maidan. Together, they unleashed hell on English bowlers so much that not a single move of Ben Stokes was working. He would have an in and out leg side field, hoping that there would be a mishit against spinners, but Sarfaraz would flick Rehan Ahmed in the gap while Jaiswal brutally swept Joe Root to the boundary.
