'Looking Like A Warrior': Fans Heap Praise on Kuldeep Yadav's 131-Ball Innings Against England – News18

The long tail of India sure continued to wag on for long, as Kuldeep Yadav played a pivotal role in stabilizing India’s seemingly never-ending collapse in the first innings of the 4th Test against England.

Bolstered by talisman batter Joe Root’s unbeaten century, England ended up posting a dominant 353 runs in the first innings, to take their chances with the ball.

Despite Yashasvi Jaiswal’s hard-fought 73-run innings, India ended up losing the entirety of their top and middle order batters and went down seven wickets for merely 177 runs. The onus then fell on leg-spinner Kuldeep Yadav and wicketkeeper Dhruv Jurel to somehow help India claw their way back into the game. And put up a fight they did.

Both of the batters stood tall and weathered the storm through the rest of the day yesterday, slowly chipping away at the target with some timely boundaries and consistent running, as the duo put up a innings-saving 76-run partnership, the third-highest 8th wicket partnership for India in this series.

Although Jurel took the responsibility of notching up most of the runs, a seasoned Kuldeep looked in fine form, defending and playing the day out in stellar fashion, as the leg-spinner sat in for 131 deliveries, which was more than what any individual Indian batter had faced in the innings till his dismissal by James Anderson.

This was also the most balls that Kuldeep has ever faced in a single innings in his career so far.

The leg-spinner grit, and determination to stand in and build a sensational partnership caught the eyes of all who watched, and this in turn, garnered high praise for Kuldeep on social media.

Another aspect that caught fans’ eyes was Kuldeep’s suave reverse-sweep off Tom Hartley which found the boundary.

Former India spinner Pragyan Ojha also took to X to share praise for both batters who helped India find their footing at a time when it was most needed.

India were bowled out for 307 runs in the first innings, and will trail by 46 runs as England are set to take to the field once again after lunch.