NB

On Twitter only to lodge customer service complaints.

[NB @NitinBajaj]

@guerillacricket Jaiswal currently 189 short of Gavaskar's record of most runs for India in a test series (774). This is his 7th innings in the series, Gavaskar did it in 8 v WI.

[NB @NitinBajaj]

@guerillacricket 'allo folks! Jaiswal suddenly a bit skittish after that not out decision.

[NB @NitinBajaj]

@guerillacricket my sincere apologies gents. Having said that, though its not true, wouldn't it be wonderful if it was - a truly English story of eccentric etymology.

[NB @NitinBajaj]

@guerillacricket oh man, what can of worms have I opened here by making up some shit about ship name origins to pass the time for a couple of boring overs 🤣

[NB @NitinBajaj]

@guerillacricket that was hashtagged Bullshit History - c'mon folks 😂

[NB @NitinBajaj]

@guerillacricket the ship ain't named for the town, its named after Rear Admiral Thomas Raunchy (who incidentally was a noted philanderer) & then they realised that the name's a bit indelicate and changed it to HMS Ranchi.

#BSHistory

[NB @NitinBajaj]

@guerillacricket before becoming known as the town that gave the world MS Dhoni, Ranchi was most well-known for its huge insane asylum. Make of that what you will.

[NB @NitinBajaj]

@guerillacricket another story of perseverance and overcoming obstacles in Indian cricket. These are very very small, forgotten towns in the badlands....

[Cricinfo @cricinfo]

Hailing from Sasaram in Bihar, Akash Deep wanted to play cricket but was discouraged by his father.

He left for Durgapur with the pretext of finding a job, and found support from his uncle. He went to a local academy where he started gaining prominence for his pace. However, his father had a stroke, and two months after his death, his older brother passed away. There was no money in the house and he had to take care of his mother. This forced him out of the game for three years.

He spent these years trying to reconstruct his life but realised his cricket dream was too big to let go. He returned to Durgapur, and then eventually moved to Kolkata, where he rented a small room and lived with his cousin.

Then came the Bengal Under-23 team. And then a Ranji Trophy debut. Then came RCB.

Today, he makes his Test debut for India in front of his mother. What a journey 👏

https://t.co/sNXEHGukkG | #INDvENG

[NB @NitinBajaj]

@guerillacricket 'allo folks, The BEar is giving good competition to to Akash & Kohli, in the ponty-beard stakes - especially considering his age and experience.

[NB @NitinBajaj]

@guerillacricket Usual service resumes in this innings, rather reminiscent of Eng batting in the 2016-17 series.

[NB @NitinBajaj]

@guerillacricket lip reading Sarfaraz & Rohit after that aborted 2nd run, absolutely, brilliantly, unprintably filthy 🤣

[NB @NitinBajaj]

@guerillacricket Sarfaraz has now crossed Bradman's average

[NB @NitinBajaj]

@guerillacricket Watching Kambli square drive the strike bowler Paul "Tornado" Jarvis for 3 consecutive fours in his double against Eng in 1993 will always remain etched in my memory (was a 3 test series, clean sweep).

[NB @NitinBajaj]

@guerillacricket Jaiswal showing a Sehwag-esque appetite for Daddy Hundreds

[NB @NitinBajaj]

@guerillacricket 'allo folks! Rather enjoyable this, wot? Don't recall the last time Jimmy got pasted like this.

[NB @NitinBajaj]

@guerillacricket 'allo folks! Sarfaraz repaying my faith in him and in the amount of cursing I've subjected the Indian selectors to over the last 3 years. Confident lad isn't he.

[NB @NitinBajaj]

@guerillacricket they're getting Chat GPT to do the ball trajectory!! That wasn't turning that much! #conspiracytheory #ReverseJinx 🤪

[NB @NitinBajaj]

@guerillacricket allo folks. This is getting really really interesting. Eng in with 60% IMO. Can't be at the stadium today alas, so following along with y'all.

[NB @NitinBajaj]

@guerillacricket yes, at the game, hopefully should be the last day of play 😁

[NB @NitinBajaj]

@guerillacricket allo folks... Day 3, Saturday, mild weather (despite what the Graun said in its English players wilting in the 28 C Hyderabad heat line in its match report yesterday), India with a good not great lead. Test cricket. Hell yeah.