And so a Test that long threatened to be decided by the unstinting efforts of an all-rounder was. Though not one but two and not Ben Stokes, who discovered that not even he can bend every game to his will, but Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar.
Centuries for the two India spinners in a partnership of 203 capped a terrific fightback and ensured the series remains alive when these teams reconvene at The Oval on Thursday. India cannot win it but, as their doggedness at Old Trafford showed, they have a willingness to scrap to avoid defeat.
In the process, they secured that rarity: a draw. It was just the second of Stokes’ captaincy, both at Old Trafford, but the first to be unaffected by weather; the forecasts were inaccurate and England were denied not by the elements but the opposition. That England ended with Harry Brook’s hopeless attempts at off-spin underlined how, for once, they have given up on victory.
Shubman Gill led the defiance and it was fitting he marked it with his fourth hundred of the series. As important as the 103 runs the captain made was the 379 minutes he lasted. He came to the crease with Chris Woakes on a hat-trick and India 0-2, 311 runs behind and with five sessions to bat. Then a finish on Sunday felt possible. Instead, after two wickets in two balls, England only took two more in the next 142 overs.
Even that required something special from Stokes. A man who was unable to bowl on the fourth day opened the attack on the fifth. Bowling with pain, troubled by his shoulder, Stokes nonetheless got more from the pitch than any of the other seamers. An eight-over spell that brought a wicket and could have produced another reinforced the impression of Stokes as superman. But it took a lot out of him: his second spell was shorter and less effective. There was no third spell. It remains to be seen if the series’ best bowler can be a genuine all-rounder at The Oval.
He showed his catalytic power. The man who can make things happen had Gill dropped at cover by Ollie Pope even before trapping KL Rahul lbw with a decision that was so clear the opener started to walk before being given. Out for 90, he could testify to the uneven bounce Stokes was getting from the Sir James Anderson End. But Rahul had provided a five-hour platform for India to save the game.
Stokes at least afforded England an opening before the second new ball. Jofra Archer removed Gill, caught behind after an injudicious waft, but only after joining Don Bradman in a select club who made four hundreds in a series against England and the great Australian and Sunil Gavaskar who managed four in one as captain.
One wicket had brought another immediately on Saturday. It almost did on Sunday. Jadeja was dropped first ball, a juggling Root dropping it at the third attempt. He had held Yashavi Jaiswal at the second but a fumble proved costly. So did others: Gill had been spilled on 46 and 81 and, with the pitch yielding just 24 wickets in five days, England needed to be immaculate.
India were obdurate. Some of their choices have backfired at Old Trafford but not the decision to promote Sundar to deputise for the injured Rishabh Pant as their No 5. He had never previously batted as high in Test cricket but looked eminently equipped to do so, facing 206 balls. Cautious early on, he hooked Stokes for six and four to bring up his fifty. A maiden Test century followed and deservedly.
Jadeja joined him and underlined why, brilliant a game as Stokes has had, he tops the ICC world rankings for all-rounders. His fifth fifty in his last six innings spoke to a remarkable consistency and, accelerating against spin, he converted it into his fifth Test century. There was a belated reward, too. He had made a valiant effort to win the Lord’s Test but was stranded with the tail. Given a similarly fine batter at the other end, he offered watchful defence and accelerated in the evening session to give India a lead.
England rarely looked like dismissing him. Brydon Carse, with a lone wicket in the series against left-handers and an average of over 200 against them, was not called upon until 2.19. Liam Dawson worked his way through 47 overs, many of them economical, but Stokes felt he missed the rough too often. There were times in the morning when England beat the bat, but fewer thereafter. It left England looking over-reliant on Stokes as India showed they don’t have a monopoly on high-class all-rounders.
