It's sometimes bizarre how stars tend to align just perfectly to witness a repeat of history. On Monday, before the start of the play, the conversation remained around India's fourth-innings failures against targets of more than 150 runs. The only time India pulled it off successfully in the last 10 years was in Gabba. However, a little over four hours later, following a dramatic two sessions on Day 4 of the fourth Test in Ranchi, India witnessed another successful chase in the fourth innings as the pair of Dhruv Jurel and Shubman Gill held their nerves to guide the hosts past the target of 192 which subsequently even sealed the series for Rohit Sharma and his men. 'Gabba 2.0', as fans on social media put it, was witnessed yet again, but the similarities doesn't end there.
India began Day 4 at 40 for no loss with Rohit and Yashasvi Jaiswal resuming the proceedings. The hosts were set a target of 192 and they managed to end Day 3 without losing any wicket. The opening pair negated the early pressure, with either batters getting boundaries to turn the pressure on the bowling side. However, England bounced back quickly, picking five wickets on either side of the lunch break.
England were back in the game with two fresh batters at the crease and 52 runs still left to chase on a track with uneven bounce and where the cracks had widened. However, Jurel and Gill fought courageously through the second session to steer India to a five-wicket win. But, what sparked the Gabba comparisons was Jurel's heroics.
Much like in that match against Australia back in 2021, it was a wicketkeeper-batter who made the difference in the match. Rishabh Pant had scored an unbeaten 89, en route to hitting the winning run in the fourth-innings chase of 328. Jurel, meanwhile, scored an inspiring 90 in the first innings that reduced the deficit to just 46 runs before scoring the winning run in the second innings, where he carved out a patient 77-ball 39* to help India chase down 192.
{{/usCountry}}Much like in that match against Australia back in 2021, it was a wicketkeeper-batter who made the difference in the match. Rishabh Pant had scored an unbeaten 89, en route to hitting the winning run in the fourth-innings chase of 328. Jurel, meanwhile, scored an inspiring 90 in the first innings that reduced the deficit to just 46 runs before scoring the winning run in the second innings, where he carved out a patient 77-ball 39* to help India chase down 192.
{{/usCountry}}If that wasn't enough, it was a wicketkeeper-batter who was adjudged as the Player of the Match in both the Test matches - Pant on Gabba and Jurel in Ranchi.
India captain Rohit was full of praise for Jurel in the post-match presentation as he said: "Jurel playing his second Test showed solid composure, calmness and he's got the shots as well to play all around the wicket. The first innings 90 of his was very crucial for us to get close to that England's total and again in the second innings showed lot of maturity, composure along with Gill."