New Delhi [India], March 6 (ANI): Former India batsman Wasim Jaffer on Saturday took a jibe at England’s batting line-up and hoped that the visitors would get a decent score in the second innings because there is nothing to complain about the pitch at the Narendra Modi Stadium.
Many former England cricketers have been criticising the wickets being used in the four-match Test series as they are favouring more spin. Former England captain Michael Vaughan was quite vocal in his criticism of the pitches used in the series and went a step further and asked for the ICC to look into the wickets after the third game ended in two days.
Taking to Twitter, Jaffer wrote, “I hope England at least get a decent score in the second innings because this pitch is really difficult to complain about. #INDvsENG.”
Taking to Instagram, Vaughan on Tuesday shared a picture of him standing in dugup soil with a bat in his hands. “Preparations going well for the 4th Test !! #OnOn #INDvENG,” he wrote in the caption.
In the ongoing fourth Test between India and England, the hosts are in the driver’s seat as they dismantled the English top-order in the second essay after setting a 160-run lead.
After the completion of 19 overs, England was at 46/4 with Joe Root unbeaten on 16 and Ollie Pope not out on five runs. For India, spinners put the hosts on top as Ravichandran Ashwin and Axar Patel scalped two wickets each.
Earlier, resuming the third day on 294/7, overnight batters Washington Sundar and Axar saw off the first hour with ease and the duo scored runs at a brisk pace, piling on further misery on the tired England bowlers. The first hour saw India scoring 50 runs as both Sundar and Axar looked to make the most of the bad balls from the visiting bowlers.
Just when the 100-run plus partnership looked to take India’s lead beyond England’s reach, Axar (43) was run out against the run of play. In the very next over, Ishant Sharma (0) was out leg before off the bowling of Ben Stokes and India’s score was reduced to 365/9 with Sundar still four runs away from his century.
While Sundar would have hoped for Siraj to hold one end up, Stokes cleaned him up in the same over as the all-rounder was left stranded — four short of a much-deserved maiden Test century. (ANI)

New Delhi [India], March 6 (ANI): The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Secretary Jay Shah on Saturday said it is a momentous occasion for all Indians to celebrate former skipper Sunil Gavaskar’s 50th anniversary of Test debut.
BCCI felicitated Gavaskar for his contribution to Indian cricket as Jay honoured the batting great during the lunch break on day three of the ongoing fourth Test between India and England at the Narendra Modi Stadium.
Taking to Twitter, Jay Shah wrote, “Join me in celebrating the 50th anniversary of Shri Sunil Gavaskar Ji’s Test debut for India. It is indeed a momentous occasion for all Indians and we are getting to celebrate it at the world’s largest cricket facility Narendra Modi Stadium @ICC @BCCI.”
The batting legend on Saturday made his social media debut as he finally created an account on Instagram.
Gavaskar’s son Rohan tweeted about his father making a debut on Instagram and he captioned the post as: “Another debut !! This time on Instagram.” In his first post on Instagram, Gavaskar shared an old photo and he captioned the post as: “Hello Instagram. I think I am ready for another debut.”
Gavaskar made his Test debut on March 6, 1971, against West Indies in Port of Spain, Trinidad. Over his career, Gavaskar went on to break many batting records and established himself as one of the finest batsmen to ever play the game.
India toured the West Indies during the 1970-71 cricket season for a five-Test series. The series turned out to be one of the most memorable ones as India won its first-ever Test series against the West Indies.
India, led by Ajit Wadekar, emerged victorious 1-0 in the five-match series and Gavaskar finished as the leading run-scorer, registering four centuries including one double ton. In his career, Gavaskar played 125 Tests and 108 ODIs for India. He was also a part of the 1983 World Cup win and 1985 World Championship of Cricket victory. (ANI)

New Delhi [India], March 6 (ANI): India all-rounder Washington Sundar was left stranded four short of a well-deserved Test century as he ran out of batting partners. But wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik has praised the effort and called it a “fabulous knock” as it enabled the hosts to build a 160-run lead in the fourth Test against England at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Saturday.
With the India innings finishing on 365 — a lead of 160 — the visitors had to bat out three overs before the umpires called for Lunch. At the break, England’s score read 6/0 with openers Zak Crawley (5) and Dominic Sibley (1) at the crease.
Taking to Twitter, Karthik wrote, “Washing’TON’ Sundar. I was waiting to write this…but it’s okay, I’m sure I’ll use this very soon! Fabulous knock @Sundarwashi5.”
Former India spinner Harbhajan Singh also said Sundar “deserved” a hundred in the game.
“Feel sad for this young man @Sundarwashi5 deserved 100 #INDvsENG,” he tweeted.
Earlier, resuming the third day on 294/7, overnight batters Sundar and Axar Patel saw off the first hour with ease and the duo scored runs at a brisk pace, piling on further misery on the tired England bowlers. The first hour saw India scoring 50 runs as both Sundar and Axar looked to make the most of the bad balls from the visiting bowlers.
Just when the 100-run plus partnership looked to take India’s lead beyond England’s reach, Axar (43) was run out against the run of play. In the very next over, Ishant Sharma (0) was out leg before off the bowling of Ben Stokes and India’s score was reduced to 365/9 with Sundar still four runs away from his century.
While Sundar would have hoped for Siraj to hold one end up, Stokes cleaned him up in the same over as the all-rounder was left stranded — four short of a much-deserved maiden Test century. Even though Sundar missed out, the crowd was entertained to the core by Rishabh Pant on Friday as he hit a magnificent century. (ANI)

New Delhi [India], March 6 (ANI): As former India skipper Sunil Gavaskar celebrates the 50th anniversary of his Test debut, the batting legend on Saturday made his social media debut as he finally created an account on Instagram.
Sunil Gavaskar’s son Rohan tweeted about his father making a debut on Instagram and he captioned the post as: “Another debut !! This time on Instagram.”
In his first post on Instagram, Gavaskar shared an old photo and he captioned the post as: “Hello Instagram. I think I am ready for another debut.”
The BCCI also felicitated Sunil Gavaskar for his contribution to Indian cricket as BCCI secretary honoured the batting great during the lunch break on day three of the ongoing fourth Test between India and England.
Gavaskar made his Test debut on March 6, 1971, against West Indies in Port of Spain, Trinidad. Over his career, Gavaskar went on to break many batting records and established himself as one of the finest batsmen to ever play the game.
India toured the West Indies during the 1970-71 cricket season for a five-Test series. The series turned out to be one of the most memorable ones as India won its first-ever Test series against the West Indies.
India, led by Ajit Wadekar, emerged victorious 1-0 in the five-match series and Gavaskar finished as the leading run-scorer, registering four centuries including one double ton.
In his career, Gavaskar played 125 Tests and 108 ODIs for India. He was also a part of the 1983 World Cup win and 1985 World Championship of Cricket victory.
Gavaskar scored 10,122 runs in the longest format of the game and he held the record for scoring most centuries in Test cricket till 2005. Sachin Tendulkar ended up breaking this record in 2005.
In 108 ODIs, Gavaskar scored 3,092 runs with his highest score being 103 not out. (ANI)

New Delhi [India], March 6 (ANI): Former India spinner Harbhajan Singh on Saturday congratulated former skipper and legendary batsman Sunil Gavaskar and thanked him for inspiring generations of cricketers as he celebrates the 50th anniversary of his Test debut.
Taking to Twitter, the former spinner wrote: “50 yrs of sunny sir.. Congratulations Sir .. thank you for inspiring generations of cricketers #50yearsofsunnysir.”
Gavaskar made his Test debut on March 6, 1971, against West Indies in Port of Spain, Trinidad. Over his career, Gavaskar went on to break many batting records and established himself as one of the finest batsmen to ever play the game.
Earlier in the day, ‘Master Blaster’ Sachin Tendulkar thanked the batting great, saying Gavaskar showed the light to every young cricketer.
“50 years ago on this day, he took the cricketing world by storm. He scored 774 runs in his debut series and each one of us growing up had a hero to look up to. India won the series in the West Indies and then In England and all of a sudden the sport in India had a new meaning,” Tendulkar wrote in a Twitter post.
“As a young boy, I knew I had someone to look up to and try and be like him. That has never changed. He remains my hero. Wish you a happy 50th in international cricket, Mr. Gavaskar. To every one of the 1971 team a happy 50th Anniversary. You all made us proud and showed us the light,” he added.
India toured the West Indies during the 1970-71 cricket season for a five-Test series. The series turned out to be one of the most memorable ones as India won its first-ever Test series against the West Indies.
India, led by Ajit Wadekar, emerged victorious 1-0 in the five-match series and Gavaskar finished as the leading run-scorer, registering four centuries including one double ton. In his career, Gavaskar played 125 Tests and 108 ODIs for India. He was also a part of the 1983 World Cup win and 1985 World Championship of Cricket victory.
Gavaskar scored 10,122 runs in the longest format of the game and he held the record for scoring most centuries in Test cricket till 2005. Sachin Tendulkar ended up breaking this record in 2005. In 108 ODIs, Gavaskar scored 3,092 runs with a highest score of an unbeaten 103. (ANI)

Ahmedabad (Gujarat) [India], March 6 (ANI): Bowling all-rounder Washington Sundar’s 96-run knock helped India extend their dominance over England on the third day of the ongoing fourth Test at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Saturday.
With the India innings finishing on 365 — a lead of 160 — the visitors had to bat out three overs before the umpires called for Lunch. At the break, England’s score read 6/0 with openers Zak Crawley (5) and Dominic Sibley (1) at the crease.
Earlier, resuming the third day on 294/7, overnight batters Sundar and Axar Patel saw off the first hour with ease and the duo scored runs at a brisk pace, piling on further misery on the tired England bowlers. The first hour saw India scoring 50 runs as both Sundar and Axar looked to make the most of the bad balls from the visiting bowlers.
Just when the 100-run plus partnership looked to take India’s lead beyond England’s reach, Axar (43) was run out against the run of play. In the very next over, Ishant Sharma (0) was out leg before off the bowling of Ben Stokes and India’s score was reduced to 365/9 with Sundar still four runs away from his century.
While Sundar would have hoped for Siraj to hold one end up, Stokes cleaned him up in the same over as the all-rounder was left stranded – four short of a much-deserved maiden Test century.
Even though Sundar missed out, the crowd was entertained to the core by Rishabh Pant on Friday as he hit a magnificent century. Apart from Pant and Sundar, Rohit Sharma also contributed with 49 at the top of the innings.
The English batsmen will have to put on their best show in the post-lunch session if the visitors are to harbour any hope of staying alive in the game.
Brief Scores: England 205 and 6/0; India 365 (Rishabh Pant 101, Washington Sundar 96*) (ANI)