Character and courage shown by the lower order was tremendous – Gill

Character and courage shown by the lower order was tremendous – Gill

India captain Shubman Gill praised his team's lower order for keeping the fight and pushing the Lord's Test into the final session, with India coming close to a remarkable victory before falling short by 22 runs. The visitors appeared to be out of running after a disastrous opening session on the final day which saw them slip to 82 for 7 with another 111 to get for victory.

But Ravindra Jadeja stitched patient and resolute stands of 30, 35 and 23 with Nitish Reddy, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj respectively to drag India close. Gill had special praise for his star all-rounder, who scored his fourth straight half-century of the series as well as 61 of the 99 runs while facing 30 of the 55 overs bowled during his time in the middle on the final day.

"He [Jadeja] is one of the most valuable players in India," the Indian captain said after the final day's play. "I think the experience that he brings in, the skill set that he brings with his bowling, batting and fielding is someone that is very rare and hard to find. And the kind of composure that he showed today, it was just tremendous to watch. I think batting with the lower order of the tail has been one of the things that we spoke about in the previous two matches, that our lower order of the tail hasn't been contributing as much. But I think the character and the courage that they showed was tremendous.

"The way we were in the game till the end, it felt like we could go very close if a partnership had added another 10 runs. And I think it's a very proud effort from the team," he added.

Gill said India were left to rue what-ifs from the final two days of play with the bat, which made chasing 192 a monumental task. After the early loss of Yashasvi Jaiswal to an ill-advised pull shot, KL Rahul and Karun Nair appeared to have steered India out of choppy waters before 41 for 1 became 58 for 4 by Stumps on the fourth day with Nair, Gill and nighthawk Akash Deep falling in a dramatic half-hour before close of play.

India were unable to stem the collapse on the final morning either, losing Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul and Washington Sundar, while Nitish Reddy fell towards the end of the session to leave India tottering. "I think we didn't play as well yesterday and today. I think in the top order, it was important that if we had a partnership of one or two (pairs) worth 50 runs, then we would have seen that after 30-40 overs, it would have been easier to bat. So, that was our effort. But unfortunately, I think this is the first time that we didn't perform as well as we have done in the series. But it happens sometimes.

"We thought 190 [192] was still chaseable at the end of the day. We had to play 20-25 overs well. We had to try to have a 50-run partnership or two 50-run partnerships. The deeper the match, the easier it would have been for us," he added.

Like his English counterpart, the Indian captain chose to play down any tension between the two teams after a match punctuated by constant sledging with even England coach Brendon McCullum appearing to implore his team to go after Washington Sundar when he walked out to bat on the final day. "I mean, you are giving everything, mentally, physically, everything. There would be times where there would be a little bit of heat from both sides. But I think that's what makes it so exciting.

"That's what makes it more challenging. The next time we are going to play against each other, there won't be… At the end of the day, there is a lot of admiration within two teams. Both the teams try their best to win a match and perform. There can be moments where there would be some kind of heat. You are in the moment. You are trying everything to be able to do whatever it takes to make your team win. And I think it happens in a game of cricket," Gill said.

Gill said the series scoreline of 1-2 with two games to go was a tough pill to swallow given how India have dominated large swathes of the three Test so far. "I think the majority of the days if we see in the 15 days, we may have won more days than them. But the sessions that didn't go well have gone very badly. So we will have to find that balance when we know that things are not going according to plan.

"So how can we improve that? Or if the batting is collapsing, how can we turn a four-wicket session into 2 or 2? These are the small margins that are very important in any series. But still, I think this match was very close. Even now we felt that we are coming from [a defeat of] 20 runs. If there was a partnership of 10 runs, then there is more pressure on the other team.

"And in the pressure, a person tries to do something new. So at the end of the day, you have played for five days in so many sessions. There are a lot of small moments that you could have done better. But as a whole, if you look at the match, I am very proud of the effort that we put in."