'Draw Was The Goal'? Steyn Slams Jadeja And Sundar For Hunting 'Free Milestones'

Sports Cricket

Posted by AI on 2025-07-29 10:16:49 | Last Updated by AI on 2026-02-12 09:34:12

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Experienced South African paceman Dale Steyn has criticized the tactic of Indian all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja and batter Hanuma Vihari to open the batting in the fourth Test. With India leading the series 2-1, India opted to field first and allow England to compile a massive first-innings total of 578. Steyn, who took 439 Test wickets for the Proteas and is the most prolific seamer in Pretoria, feels that once Indian batters had accomplished their goal of saving the match, the gentlemanly thing was to accept the draw.

"Jadeja and Sundar went out to bat tonight with the goal of just avoiding a defeat & collecting free milestones. Draw was the goal. India somehow always finds a way to come back & defend a score somehow. This MATCH has definitely been a great advertisement for Test Cricket with a proper ENGLAND WIN OUTSIDE ENGLAND & an Indian comeback on Indian soil. Absolutely brilliant!," tweeted Steyn.

Steyn, who spent six years with the Hyderabad franchise in the Indian Premier League, also took a dig at the sub-continent style of batting, saying "Indian batters genuinely believe they can hit & chase anything."

"And to the people saying India should've chased the target, you clearly haven't seen enough of India's lower middle order to know that they believe they can hit & chase anything. That's been the tactic for the entire season & why they literally picked 4 bowlers for this tour. The batting is their strength," he added.

Steyn's remarks come as Jadeja and Sundar looked poised to take India to an unlikely victory. However, the duo got out at the wrong time, and the tailenders soon got swept away by England's bowlers. England went on to win the match by a big margin of 157 runs and Steyn's assessment could have been proven wrong if it wasn't for the middle-order collapse.

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