India lost their third Test against England at Lord’s, which has put them on the backfoot for the currently ongoing Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy. This match concluded in favour of only one team, but the emotions ran high for both teams, especially over the last two days.

From fans to reporters, everyone was preparing themselves for an early finish in the Lord’s Test on Day 5, as India was 8 wickets down at the stroke of lunch. But known for its reputation, the India vs England match turned exciting with a historic knock from Ravindra Jadeja, aided by the Indian tailenders.

The Indian tailenders have received immense criticism for their disgusting show with the bat, as they have undergone several collapses and never seemed good enough even to stay on the crease longer than 10 minutes. However, not this time, says Jasprit Bumrah.

Former Indian cricketer Ajay Jadeja feels the Indian dressing room would not be in its usual high spirits despite earlier losses. This is because losing such a well-fought Test will sting for some time, especially to the players who took them so near to a historic win. Speaking on Sony Sports, he said:

“It’s tough to think along those lines while you’re in the dressing room. When you play and come so close, you cannot be thinking of it. There will be disappointment, and no one is more disappointed than him (Jadeja).”

“A lot of things happened – what went wrong and what didn’t. But real teams are those that emerge out of this strong, but today is not the day to talk about it,” said the former Indian cricketer Jadeja.

“It’s impossible. They have worked their whole lives for it, prepared for this tour, had their strategies, and then when you come this close and loose, it’s not easy to take in. They have shown us already how to win from such adversities. No matter how much you console,” added Jadeja.

Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj bat for 14 overs at Lord’s

When everything seemed over for India, an unreal incident happened at Lord’s. India’s no. 10 Jasprit Bumrah came into bat alongside Ravindra Jadeja, who till then looked firm on the crease.

Jadeja had been long on the crease batting alongside Nitish Kumar Reddy and Washington Sundar before the two batters got out in the first session, before lunch. However, Bumrah showed some resistance to the hostile attack of the English pacers, who aimed bouncers at him.

Bumrah himself might have scored only 5 runs, but he played for 54 deliveries and supported Jadeja for a 35-run stand for the 9th wicket. Mohammed Siraj, the last man for India, walked in and took India to 170 batting alongside Jadeja. He might have also put just 4 beside his name, but he was dynamic in seeing off 30 balls in his innings.

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Ravindra Jadeja: India’s lone warrior at Lord’s

India lost the game by a close margin of 22 runs, but the man who did it all for India was Ravindra Jadeja. Jadeja is rightly the most experienced cricketer in the Indian lineup, as he has been on many tours before in England.

However, this time around, Jadeja has shown every promising style needed from a senior batter of his status. He has scored four consecutive half-centuries since the first innings at Edgbaston. He remained not out on 61* from 181 balls and took India from a hopeless end to a near-win situation.

He built three partnerships of 30, 35 and 23 runs with the no. 9, no. 10 and no. 11 batters for India, with him being the scorer of the majority of runs. Until Siraj got out in a tragic fashion, Jadeja played like a warrior at Lord’s, not only as a player, absorbing every challenge that was thrown towards him.