Sports fans not immersed in the ways of Test cricket would be intrigued at how a contest can end without a clear winner and loser, and how there can be celebration of a stalemate. In Test cricket, too, the draw has become pretty rare of late, and often happens only when a considerable amount of time is lost due to weather. That’s why India’s feat of batting 143 overs in Manchester was all the more special. It is a rare performance in this era of T20 cricket, where strike rates are everything and most batsmen have forgotten the art of defending.

A hard-fought draw, which witnesses two teams fighting it out for the full five days before finishing with shared........

© Indian Express