Cheteshwar Pujara scored a half-century in the second innings of the fifth and final Test between England and India at Edgbaston in Birmingham. With his patient knock of 66 against the hosts, Cheteshwar Pujara became the first Indian opener to hit a Test fifty on the famous ground in 36 years. Before Cheteshwar Pujara only three Indian openers, namely Sudhir Naik, Sunil Gavaskar, and Chetan Chauhan had reached the milestone at Edgbaston. And the Rajkot-born cricketer's Birmingham heroics were immediately recognized by his India teammate Mohammed Siraj who labeled him as a warrior.

“He (Pujara) is a warrior. In Australia, he did it and here also, he is doing the job. Whenever the team requires, he always stands up. When the tough situation arises, he is always there to do the job. Exactly, bowling to him is difficult, he does not attack much and just keeps on leaving balls so that can get irritating in the nets,” Mohammed Siraj said during a press conference.

Cheteshwar Pujara's knock, however, may not help India in winning the series as England need only 119 more runs to claim a sensational victory in the decider.

After India set a target of 378 for the home team to level the series, England batters took the matter into their own hands, as their openers Alex Lees and Zak Crawley were involved in a quickfire stand of 107 runs for the first wicket.

Though Jasprit Bumrah and company hit back with three quick wickets, England talisman Joe Root and the swashbuckling Jonny Bairstow put them on top with their unbeaten partnership of 150-runs for the fourth wicket.

Surprisingly, the pitch didn't behave dramatically on the fourth day which was rather unusual, considering the ball kept low and at times jumped extremely high from the good length area. This was perhaps the main reason behind Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow's complete dominance of the Indian bowlers.

While Joe Root is currently batting at 76*, Jonny Bairstow is at 72, and the pair would fancy their chances of leading England to yet another massive triumph which would be their fourth in succession at home on Tuesday.

Coming back to Jonny Bairstow, the England wicketkeeper batter has been the center of attraction for the past two days.

First, it was his war of words with Virat Kohli which hogged the limelight before his third consecutive century in back-to-back Tests became the cynosure of the cricket-loving press in England.

Jonny Bairstow was back doing what he does best on Day 4 as he continued to hurt India with his aggressive brand of cricket.

It appeared like Virat Kohli's words have motivated him to continue England's recent winning streak in England.

Before India arrived in the United Kingdom, England had clean-swept New Zealand 3-0 in a Test series.

Jonny Bairstow, meanwhile, gave credit for his success to the “clarity” in his thought process when he's out there on the crease.

“I've never been a great technician, have I?” he said in a media interaction. “That's why you lot have torn me to shreds a few times: going leg side of it, going off side of it, bowled through the gate. Nah, genuinely, I've not really thought of technique and stuff like that to be honest with you. I've just stripped everything back and trying to focus on watching the ball. There's my honest answer.”