KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja put up a great fight at Old Trafford to save the game for India. After India had given away a 311 run lead in the first innings and England was pushing hard for a win, Rahul’s 90 and Jadeja’s unbeaten 107 shut the game down over the last two days.
Aakash Chopra praised the resilience of Rahul and Jadeja, with special praise for Rahul’s understated brilliance.
He’s playing like a pro, Chopra said on his YouTube channel. He may not have got his century but he’s been the backbone of India’s top order this series.
In another video, Aakash Chopra also talked about the concerns before the series about replacing the retired Rohit Sharma.
We knew we would miss Rohit at some point since he played so well here before. But KL and Yashasvi have been great. They have been steady and confident and that’s been important, Chopra said.
Chopra praised Jadeja’s century saying it showed his world class all round ability and silenced those who had been criticising him in the past.
People gave me a hard time for that call [ranking Jadeja over Stokes], but the numbers proved me right. And now Jadeja has shown why he’s so valuable. Four fifties and now this hundred – it’s been a series to remember for him, Chopra said, referring to his previous opinion.
He especially liked how Jadeja focused on his personal milestone while also fighting for the team’s survival.
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He wasn’t just playing for a draw, he wanted that hundred and he deserved it. England thought they could win when he came in but he didn’t let that happen, Chopra said.
England had taken control after India’s first innings of 358 and scored 669 thanks to centuries from Joe Root and Ben Stokes. India’s second innings started poorly at 0/2 but a crucial partnership between KL Rahul and Shubman Gill helped to steady the innings.
After they were dismissed, Jadeja and Sundar batted through the entire final day under pressure and saved the game for their team.
