- Friday, March 14, 2025
By: Shubham Ghosh
INDIA lost their plot against a resurgent England in the fifth and final Test of the 2021 series which was rescheduled this month as the home team thrashed them by 7 wickets to level the series 2-2. The final Test was rescheduled after the 2021 series was halted mid way over a Covid-19 scare in the Indian camp.
The Three Lions, who came out with an attacking mindset against Jasprit Bumrah’s side on the fourth day after the Asian side set them a target of 378, had no problems whatsoever to knock off the required 119 runs on the final morning without losing a wicket.
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Both overnight batters Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow slammed unbeaten centuries – 142 and 114 – respectively, to extend their partnership to 269. Bairstow, who was picked as the man of the match, became the first England batter since Andrew Strauss against India in Chennai in 2008 to slam two hundreds in the same Test, following his 106 in the first essay.
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Bairstow’s super-human form also saw him belting six centuries in eight Test matches in 2022.
Root, who slammed 737 runs in the series, and Bumrah, who picked 23 wickets, were announced as the players of the series.
Bumrah said after the match, “Ifs and buts can always be a thing, but this is how the game of cricket goes, England kept on fighting and played better than us in the second innings. Both teams played good cricket. Rishabh takes his chances, he and Jaddu counterattacked and we were ahead of the game. Very happy for him, he had a very good match. Captaincy was a good challenge, a lot of great learnings, an honour to lead the team and a great experience for me.”
England captain Ben Stokes said, “It’s down to the players, making my job easier. When you have clarity like we do in the dressing room it makes totals like that easier. 378 five weeks ago would have been scary, but it’s all good.
“Jonny and Rooty will get the plaudits, but you set the precedent by what your two openers do, and playing the way they did against Bumrah and Shami.
“We take away the scoreboard and how many runs there are to chase, it’s all about taking wickets. Sometimes teams will be better than us, but no-one will be braver than us, according to Jack Leach.”
“We are trying to rewrite how Test cricket is being played, in England in particular. It’s not always about top of off, it’s about taking ten wickets.
“We know that we want to give new life to Test cricket, and the support that we’ve had has been incredible. We are bringing a new set of fans to Test cricket. We want to leave a mark.”
Brief scores: England 284 & 378 for 3 beat India 416 & 245 by 7 wickets
