India won by 203 runs
PLAYER OF THE MATCH : Virat Kohli
Batter
Bowler
Let's just leave it there. 2-1 it is, with England still leading and two Test matches to go. This is Rishi Roy, bidding adieu on a truncated day in the company of our crew of commentators - Abhinand Raghavendran, Srivathsa, Hariprasad Sadanandan, and our scorer Mukesh Gowda, who have been bringing you the action in this rollercoaster ride of a Test match. Do join us in Southampton in 8 days time for the fourth Test, because it's not really goodbye after all - Test cricket is very. much. alive. *Curtains Down*
Jasprit Bumrah, an IPL recruit, has attracted the limelight; The masters of grit, Pujara and Rahane, are back amongst the runs and have contributed handsomely in this win; Pant has been fantastic behind the stumps and looked solid with the bat; Hardik Pandya, with his quick five-for and a run-a-ball fifty, reinforces his all-rounder's spot and makes a statement. And speaking of statements, Virat Kohli - I bow down to thee. England have some tough decisions to make, in terms of team composition, injuries and more importantly, catching.
12:23 Local Time, 16:53 IST: Breathless? I know I am. And yes, a Test match can do that to you. What an exhibition for the longer format! Four-day games are being considered, to keep up with our fast-moving world. Not taking sides here, but there's something that appeals to the inner cricket romantic when a Test match tips over into the final day with the fourth innings in progress.
________________
Mohit: "All of a sudden there are so many problems for England. Top order and even the bowling as England couldn't bowl India out even in fine bowling conditions. I think that England's bowlers are less effective on non-swinging or less swinging pitches. We have seen the same in Australia as well."
Arpit: Why do captains at times not accept their mistakes? Root is saying that it is tough for the openers in these conditions but these are their home conditions and they have grown in these. Might as well accept that there is a flaw that needs to be worked on.
________________
Shastri: (Talking to Michael Atherton for Sky Sports) "You can't ask for more. What we demanded from the boys, was accountability. We knew we were close to beating England, despite the results, despite being 0-2 down. I said at the press conference that there wasn't a negative bone in the team and I mean it. We came out here to win this Test match, it's about applying yourself. It's about executing your plans in the best possible method and they did it magnificently. As a batting unit, bowling unit and more importantly, as a catching unit. (On India's fine slip catching) Terrific, because they realize now that they have a potent pace attack and if you have to support the pace bowlers, you need to take your catches. If you do that, they get the wickets and you stay on the ground lesser. Emphasis has been on fielding. If you look at the ODI side, it has been the best fielding side India has had, ever. Idea is to get the Test side also in same frame of mind as well. (Whether this is the best Indian pace attack ever) By a mile, and the best strength. If you look, the two potent fast bowlers for English conditions were Bhuvi and Bumrah, they didn't play in the ODIs at all and in the first couple of Tests, yet to play together. Then you have Ishant and Shami bowling beautifully with Umesh waiting in the wings. I don't know what they are eating but they're surely eating something different. I am not complaining. It's a conscious effort from this side to be the best travelling side in the world. Not just at home. We know we thrash oppositions at home. They don't stand a chance, especially when we prepare spinning tracks. We want to win away from home. I think this side can be the best travelling side in the world. (On Kohli) He is very passionate about the game. He loves batting, he loves to do the hard yards. His work ethics are second to none. Haven't seen any cricketer, I'll put Tendulkar in it as well, in the way he visualizes situations. I promise you, he will forget these two innings now and take guard again as if he hadn't scored a run in the series. It's going to be tough (to change this XI). In the four years that I have been doing this job, especially overseas, I haven't seen a more clinical performance. We have won a Test match, not yet won the series but we there are two Test matches to go. We'll be thinking in that fashion."
Kohli (2/2):The partnership between me and Ajinkya was crucial if you look back at the Test. Ajinkya was clear in his mindset in the first innings, and when he goes out and plays like that, he is attractive to watch and he can change the complexion of the game. It was about getting stuck and not throwing our wickets away. They're a quality attack and you need grit and determination to score against them, and Ajinkya did that in the first innings and Pujara in the 2nd. I haven't thought about the 2014 failures, but I'd like to dedicate this to my wife who is here and keeps motivating me. She's copped a lot in the past but she deserves the credit for this one. The four fastest bowlers in the series have been Indians and we're proud of our fitness levels. We want the opposition to bat well and get runs and we don't want to gift them any, we want to get rid of loose balls. They're getting into that kind of a mindset and getting Test runs should be difficult. We definitely believe we can come back from 0-2 to 3-2, we just need to keep moving forward, keep winning. We wouldn't be 2-1 if we didn't believe. The respect and the belief in the change room is important, and one must keep wanting to win. We need to bring out the impact performances in the next two Tests as well.
Virat Kohli, India captain and Man of the Match, (97 and 103), (1/2): We, as a team, want to dedicate this win to the flood victims in Kerala. (Applause from the crowd). This is our bit we can do as the Indian cricket team. A tough time there. The victory was much-needed in this series and in context, and to have been clinical in all departments is a victory for the entire dressing room. A complete Test for us. There was no panic, and we were outplayed in only one game out of the last 5, and that was Lord's. We dominated in this game because we put runs on the board and then the bowlers did well, they were waiting and ready, even Ashwin did well with his injury. The bowling group was ready to take 20 wickets again, and I'm glad the batsmen stepped up. So we, as batsmen, did well to give them a cushion for the bowlers to go hard. Even the slips did well, and this mix of all skills couldn't have come at a better time.
Root (2/2): You're always looking to find a way to get people out (on Virat Kohli), and it's not like he has got quick runs against us so we have bowled well, but he's got a way to adapt to these conditions and he's found a good method to play in these conditions. We have experienced bowlers, who can work him out. We need to give our bowlers a good chance in the slips (about the 12 catches dropped), but we are working hard on our catches and we will continue to do so, and that will make a massive difference and give us a chance to win the game. It's early days for the Bairstow injury, and over the next few days we will have a better idea about the swelling. It would be great if he manages to recover - you want guys like that in your side, and I know he'll be desperate to play. It has been challenging in the top-order in this series, and these conditions, so it's difficult to rule the openers out. Very easy to look past that, and we need to be realistic about things. We need to find a good method to adapt. The best thing about Buttler's 100 was that he showed how good a cricket brain he has and how well he worked out the situation, as opposed to what people know about him - hitting the ball hard. This'll give him a great amount of confidence. It was great to see what he is capable of doing and hopefully this was just the first of many hundreds to come in his career.
Joe Root, England Captain (1/2): I don't think there are any regrets for me. (About the team selection) It's a strong team that we have if you look at the card. It was always going to be a difficult decision because the guys to miss out did extremely well in the series till now, and looking at the toss, there was some light grass on the wicket and it was a good opportunity to get ahead in the game. That didn't happen. That's nitpicking, if I say we should have bowled fuller and straighter, so we just have to give the credit to India. They left very well, and it was hard for the seamers to get wickets early on, so credit to India. We very much underperformed in the first innings. In the 2nd innings, the partnership between Buttler and Stokes was admirable and a lesson in how to play Test cricket. It's not about being defensive, but how well they adapted to the situation and built the partnership. We have to look at that, and adapt our games individually in Southampton and give ourselves a good chance to score 400+ so we can put some scoreboard pressure.
Here comes the presentation ceremony...
______________
Deepu Narayanan's stat-attack:
Most wins as captain after 38 Tests:
30 R Ponting
27 S Waugh
22 M Vaughan/ V Kohli
21 V Richards/ M Taylor
20 A Strauss
Most wins as captain for India:
27 MS Dhoni (60 matches)
22 V Kohli (38)
21 S Ganguly (49)
14 M Azharuddin (47)
Only the fifth time in last 24 Tests in England since the start of Ashes 2015, a Test match has lasted five days:
Eng vs SL, Lord's, 2016
Eng vs Pak, Edgbaston, 2016
Eng vs SA, The Oval, 2017
Eng vs WI, Leeds, 2017
Eng v Ind, Trent Bridge, 2018
India winning multiple Tests outside Asia in the same calendar year:
Three in 1968 (in NZ)
Two each in - 1971 (Eng, WI); 1976 (NZ, WI); 1986 (Eng); 2002 (WI, Eng); 2005 (Zim); 2006 (WI, SA); 2016 (WI); 2018 (SA, Eng)
Most wickets by Indian pacers in a Test:
20 vs SA, Joburg, 2018
19 vs Eng, Trent Bridge, 2018
18 vs SA, Durban, 1996
18 vs WI, Bridgetown, 1997
18 vs SL, Kandy, 2001
Venues outside Asia where India have won multiple Tests:
3 Queen's Park Oval
2 Eden Park, Leeds, Lord's, MCG, Queen's Sports Club, Sabina Park, Wanderers, Trent Bridge
Biggest wins for India against England by runs:
279 Leeds, 1986
246 Vizag, 2016
203 Trent Bridge, 2018
187 Kolkata, 1961/62