England vs India 2018, 5th Test: Another Great Day for the Hosts - Gautam Gambhir

Gautam Gambhir, Team India batter and the former Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) skipper, stated that day three of the 5^th and the final Test between India and England entirely belonged to England.  However, India had an excellent start to the day with Ravindra Jadeja and debutant Hanuma Vihari batting superbly to post a score of 292 on the board.

Vihari scored a fluent half-century in his debut Test. However, the highlight of the first session was Jadeja’s vigil at the crease. The southpaw scored 86 off 156 deliveries and looked in complete control of proceedings.

The highlight of the day was Jadeja dancing down the track and smashing James Anderson straight over his head for a brilliant six.

However, England made a strong comeback in the final two sessions. At the end of the day’s play, they ended up scoring 114 for two, with an overall lead of 154 runs.

Given the trend of the series so far, it will be a tough job for India to chase anywhere close to 350. The hosts would surely want to put India under pressure and win the series 4-1.

On the other hand, it will be important for the visitors to come up with improved performance on the day four.

“Another great day for England. Obviously, they dominated the 2^nd and the 3^rd session. Just losing two wickets throughout the day and then getting a lead of 160. I am sure they will be very happy with today’s performance. I think India started off the day really well with Jadeja and Vihari. But then there was a lot of play and misses,” Gambhir said.

The out of favour opener Gautam Gambhir further praised the likes of Mohammed Shami. Gambhir felt that he was the most threatening bowler throughout the day’s play for India against England.

“Mohammed Shami was outstanding throughout the day. I thought he looked the most threatening bowler. Bumrah was imperious, and so was Ishant. But I thought today’s day completely belonged to England. I am sure they will be looking somewhere around 350 tomorrow. If they can a lead of 350. Obviously it will be very difficult for India on Day 4 and Day 5,” Gambhir said.

“Once it starts spinning, Moeen Ali will come into play in a big way. Plus they have got Adil Rashid. He hasn’t done too much in the series, but when it starts spinning, he will be lethal as well. So I am sure all in all England dominate Day 3, and I am sure they would be looking to dominate Day 4. So anything around 350. It will be very difficult for India to win or bat out those four sessions,” he concluded.