Nottingham: Debutant Stuart Binny (78) and Bhuvneshwar Kumar (63) added 91 runs for the eighth wicket to help India draw their first Test against England at the Trent Bridge here on Sunday.
On a pitch which hardly offered anything to the bowler, a draw was always on cards after England's Joe Root (154 not out) and James Anderson (81) shared a Test record tenth-wicket stand of 198.
However, India had few positives to take away from the match as Bhuvneshwar Kumar starred both with the bat and the bowl. His 111 run last wicket partnership with Mohammed Shami (51 not out) in the first innings gave India an upper-hand and later he took five for 82 to emerge as India’s best bowler. In second innings too, he scored an unbeaten 63.
Terming it to be a good Test match for India, Indian skipper MS Dhoni said: “We needed a partnership this morning and we got it. We managed to put pressure on England and then we held up well when we were under pressure. We haven't had a seaming all-rounder but Stuart Binny can be someone who can really contribute for us in the future. I don't regret not playing R Ashwin because there was no help for the spinner. We had good combinations and I was happy with the bowling attack,” said Dhoni, adding that he could not have changed much when Root and Anderson were batting so well.
“We tried a few things but the ball got soft and the bowlers got tired and I don't think there was much else we could have done. A lot of youngsters have played really well. We wanted to see what kind of fight they are putting in and we're pleased," said Dhoni.
Meanwhile England captain Alastair Cook said: " In this game we had a poor session, losing six wickets on a really good pitch. Thankfully we got out of it. Joe Root has come back really well. It's a tough job being a groundsman and he's admitted he's got it wrong but you have to adapt and we adapted well. As captain, you just had to try things and that's all you can do. When it was reversing and the ball was hard, it became a bit more even."
