Ganguly: Cricket at its best as England and India slog it out

Sourav Ganguly, the President of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is left impressed with the spectacle being provided by both India and England in the ongoing five-match series in the UK.

The BCCI chief reckons that both countries have displayed great skill on the field and there is no substitute for a well-fought series. The ongoing series stands level at 1-1, and heading into the final day of the fourth Test at the Oval, hosts England need 291 more runs for the win with all 10 wickets in hand.

“Cricket at its best. Nothing can beat a well-fought test series. The one in Australia and now this one. The most skilful form of cricket,” Ganguly said.

Earlier this year, India had defeated Australia 2-1 in the Border Gavaskar Trophy against all odds. Many players got injured, skipper Virat Kohli headed home but under the leadership of Ajinkya Rahane and guidance of head coach Ravi Shastri, India pulled off a heist after losing the first Test, where they were bundled out for a measly 36 runs in the second innings.

Coming back to the ongoing Test series, England have been set a target of 368 heading into the final day of an absorbing Test match.

Rohit Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara, Rishabh Pant and Shardul Thakur all passed 50 for India. Umesh Yadav and Jasprit Bumrah also played cameos of 25 and 24 as India posted a score of 466 in the second innings, extending the lead to 367. For England, Woakes returned with three wickets.

At stumps on Day 4, England’s score read 77-0.