England’s batting once again fell apart like a sand castle, unable to stand up to the guile of the Indian spinners. And this time, they did not even have the cushion of a debatable pitch to blame.
So the hosts wrapped up the series 3-1, winning the fourth and final Test by an innings and 25 runs. The previous Test was done and dusted in two days, this time it lasted a day more.
Courtesy the result, India have also earned the right to play the World Test Championship final in June in London and they will face New Zealand for the crown.
The century stand between Rishabh Pant and Washington Sundar that helped India gain a healthy lead on Day II was a fair indication of which way the game was headed. On Saturday, Washington paired up with Axar Patel to stitch together another hundred-plus (106) partnership that did not just push England to the backfoot, but kind of pushed them out of the match as well.
Thereafter, as has been the template since the second Test, the English batsmen surrendered to Ravichandran Ashwin (5/47) and Axar (5/48) in their second innings as well, ensuring a quick finish to the game at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
Credit for the series win would go to India’s ‘AA’ spin battery. Axar finished the
series with a massive 27 scalps, equalling former left-arm spinner Dilip Doshi’s tally of wickets in his debut series. His partner-in-spin, Ashwin, was richer by 32 wickets and was rightly adjudged Man of the Series.
Not just in terms of the number of wickets he took, but the century Ashwin hit in trying conditions in the second innings of the second Test was equally significant in the context of the series. “My growth as a cricketer is a direct synonym to the person I am. I want to keep evolving and keep learning because that’s my second nature, directly proportional to the kind of cricketer I am and whatever I do and the best that I can be,” Ashwin emphasised after the match.
On a day of Indian success, Washington (96 not out) perhaps would be a tad disappointed that he missed out on a well-deserved maiden Test century because he ran out of partners. After Pant’s heroics, it was Washington who helped India take a sizeable lead of 160, which was simply too much given the fragility of this English batting line-up against spin.
“I’m not surprised at all as Washy works really hard on his batting to a point that we have discussions on how he should bowl more as well. He loves his batting and is quite a special batsman. I think he should bat as an opener or in the top four when he goes back to playing for Tamil Nadu,” Ashwin said.
For England, it’s a bit weird how they dived into disaster after posting a handsome win in the first Test.
Their team selection at times seemed illogical, their bowling lacked accuracy and application and their batting looked spineless. Celebrated players like captain Joe Root and Ben Stokes batted like novices even when a Dan Lawrence, of lesser or no repute, made a 50 on Saturday.
“I don’t think we reacted to the change in surfaces as well as India did,” Root said. “They exploited them better and found ways of managing the turn.
“There have been periods where we found ourselves at parity, but India managed to grab them. Generally, in low-scoring matches, that’s the difference.”
The problem, one guesses, is in the outlook. In England, you would still be deemed “lazy” if you bowl spin, as an ECB Level II coach (incidentally of Indian origin) claimed. And cricket is played on a variety of surfaces, not just on seaming pitches in an English weather.
