"He could do what Joe Root did"- Former Australian spinner questions Harry Brook's bowling on Day 5 of ENG vs IND 2025 4th Test

Former Australian spinner Brad Hogg expressed dissatisfaction with how Harry Brook bowled in the final stages of Day 5 at Old Trafford. The 54-year-old believed that Brook should have looked at how Joe Root bowled on the last day and tried to make it more difficult for the batter to reach his hundred.

Brook delivered a few long hops at the end of Day 5 that helped Ravindra Jadeja get to his century. Speaking on his YouTube channel, Hogg said,

"The way that Brook bowled to Jadeja in that over that allowed him to get that hundred, I wasn't too happy about that. I have great regard for Brook. I love the way he bats. He's just got so much talent. But in that particular situation, yes, you want to come off. You think it is the right thing to come off. But at the end of the day, Sundar and Jadeja and India had the right to reward those two particular players for getting a century, especially Sundar, because he's done so well as an all-rounder, and it was his first opportunity of getting a hundred." "But when he bowled that over to Jadeja, that was just a little bit of an issue. He could do what Joe Root did and not allow the opposition player to get that easy hundred. Make him work for it, and if you make him work for it, you could have got him out, and India would have looked a little bit silly at that particular stage for continuing the game to get Jadeja's hundred".

Jadeja and his batting partner, Washington Sundar, eventually reached their centuries, after which the match was called off, ending in a draw. The pair added 203 runs for the fifth wicket to secure the result, after Shubman Gill and KL Rahul had fallen in the first session of play.

Brad Hogg praises Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar for their performance on Day 5 at Old Trafford

India's number five and number six batsmen, Washington Sundar and Ravindra Jadeja, added 203 runs for the fifth wicket on Day 5 at Old Trafford. Brad Hogg praised the duo for their performance, noting that they did the right thing by not going after the bowling in pursuit of their hundreds.

"These two, I just loved the way they went about it. They had to bat three (two) sessions to save the Test match for India. Sundar, he's gone up the order. He was playing and missing a couple of balls, but he did not let it affect him." "The other thing is that when they were getting closer to their hundreds at the back end, they didn't try to go after the bowling to try and get their hundreds because they knew if they had lost a wicket or two, then England could fire up and if England had got 10 overs or 12 overs, they could probably go after a reasonable total and knock it off as well. So, they did the job right to the end," Hogg said.

Trailing by 311 runs, India found themselves 0/2 after Chris Woakes had removed Yashasvi Jaiswal and Sai Sudharsan for no scores. The pair of KL Rahul and captain Shubman Gill put on 188 runs for the third wicket to rescue the Indian innings.

However, India was again in a spot of bother when both batters fell in the opening session on Day 5. But Sundar and Jadeja stuck it out in the middle, mixing caution with aggression to save India’s game and give them a chance to tie the series at The Oval.

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Edited by Vaishnavi Iyer