The ongoing fourth Test match between India and England in Ranchi has seen plenty of spice, drama, action and entertainment. On Day 4, we saw Shoaib Bashir bag his maiden five-wicket haul. Meanwhile, Dhruv Jurel was applauded by the England team, their fans for his resurgent batting display which brought India back into the game.
Initially, an unbeaten century by Joe Root (122*) saw England post 353 in their first innings. Then a fiery Bashir made India stutter in their first innings, until Jurel came to his side’s rescue with a knock of 90 off 149 balls as the hosts posted 307 runs in response.
England began the second innings with a lead of 46 runs, but this time their batters looked nervous. R Ashwin silenced his critics, removing opener Ben Duckett (15) early by no. 3 and no. 4 batters Ollie Pope (0) and Root (11).
Root’s dismissal caught everyone’s attention in particular as the on-field umpire didn’t raise his finger. Ashwin hit Root on the pads but the on-field umpire didn’t agree with India that it was lbw. India immediately took the DRS, and replays showed three reds, which led to reversal of the on-field call.
England legend Michael Vaughan felt that it was a wrong decision and called it ‘a shocker’ in a post on X, which he deleted later. “The Root dismissal was a shocker for the technology. Over half looked to have pitched outside leg stump but it came up red !!!!!! Hawkeye is having a average series .. And it’s done for England’s best player Root ..,” he wrote.
After deleting the tweet, Vaughan posted on the social media platform once again and he didn’t delete it this time. He wrote, “Interested to know why we haven’t seen many replays of the Root dismissal … Surely it’s the main moment of the innings so far so we should be seeing it a lot more … Asking for a friend …”
Root’s dismissal will really hurt England’s hopes to level the series. They are currently trailing 1-2 and a win will see the final Test turn into a decider. But a defeat will see India clinch a series-deciding victory.
