Team India extended their indomitable run on home turf with another convincing series win on Saturday as the Rohit Sharma-led side beat England by an innings and 64 runs at the HPCA stadium in Dharamsala in the fifth and final match of the series. The emphatic victory saw the hosts seal the series 4-1, adding to their streak of not losing a single contest at home since 2012. India legend Sachin Tendulkar was all praise for Ravichandran Ashwin and Kuldeep Yadav for the big win on Day 3 of the fifth Test, while former India cricketer Virender Sehwag fumed at England and their skipper Ben Stokes, taking a dig at their 'Bazball' approach.
Ashwin, featuring in his 100th Test match for India, played the most crucial role on Saturday, as he picked up a five-wicket haul that helped the home team fold England for just 195 runs in the second innings. It was his 36th career fifer, the most ever by an Indian bowler and he also matched Anil Kumble in becoming the only other bowler from the country to pick up a five-wicket haul in the 100th Test appearance.
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Kuldeep, who had a fifer to his name in the first innings, picked two wickets on Day 3 and was named the Player of the Match for his all-round efforts. He also scored a valiant knock of 30 from 69 balls earlier in the day.
{{/usCountry}}Kuldeep, who had a fifer to his name in the first innings, picked two wickets on Day 3 and was named the Player of the Match for his all-round efforts. He also scored a valiant knock of 30 from 69 balls earlier in the day.
{{/usCountry}}Impressed at performance of the two and the Indian team, Sachin tweeted: “Despite losing the first Test, #TeamIndia bounced back impressively to clinch the series with a comfortable 4-1 scoreline. Throughout the series, the team has capitalised on every opportunity presented to them. @imkuldeep18 and @ashwinravi99's outstanding performances were instrumental in this commanding win over England at Dharamsala.”
Virender Sehwag takes a dig at England
Unlike Sachin, Sehwag directed his social media post at the visiting side, question their Bazball approach. He reckoned that England looked clueless since their defeat in Vizag, in the second match of the series, and also felt that Stokes' poor run of form in the series added to their woes.
“Bazball, Batti Gull. There needs to be a method to madness. England simply didn’t have the game to match and looked clueless particularly after the second test match. The captain failing miserably only added to their woes and they simply looked like living in an illusion. For this method to succeed, there needs to be a method to madness, which England severely lacked,” he wrote.
The win by an innings and 64 runs in Dharamsala also saw India gain 12 crucial WTC points, taking their tally to 74. It thus lifted their point percentage from 64.58 to 68.51 as India consolidated their position at the top of the table. For England, a fourth straight defeat kept them in the eighth position, as they incurred a drop in their point percentage, down to 17.5 from 19.44 previously.