After sealing an unbeatable 3-1 lead, India went about writing Bazball's obituary in the fifth and final Test of the series against England as they decimated the visitors by an innings and 64 runs. The series finale ended in just 3 days as the dominant home side, led by Rohit Sharma, handed Ben Stokes-led England only their second-innings defeat in the Bazball era. India had to bat only once as England looked desperately poor with the bat in both their innings as it seemingly looked like they were desperately waiting to hop on to the flight back home.
Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill's hundreds and a spin-bowling masterclass from R Ashwin and Kuldeep Yadav made sure India deflated England's hopes of a consolation win in Dharamsala. | Dharamsala Test, India vs England: Scorecard |
The hosts flaunted their ruthless avatar for the first time in the series, making sure they added salt to England's wounds in the context of the race to the World Test Championship final.
R Ashwin picked up a 5-wicket haul in his 100th Test while Jasprit Bumrah, who stood in for an injured Rohit Sharma, ran through the lower-order as India bundled England out for 197 in the final innings. England did not last 60 overs in either innings of the 5th Test as their batting flop show saw a third-day finish in the series for the first time. | Dharamsala Test, Day 3 Highlights |
Joe Root emerged as the lone warrior once again as he showed once again that the current crop of England batters can score runs despite being orthodox in their approach. Root's hundred in the 4th Test in Ranchi and his 84 in the final innings in Dharamsala was a stern reminder to Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes that the scoreline of the series could have been much better had his teammates shown some sense instead of trying to swing the high-quality Indian bowlers into the orbit.
England had lost only 4 ouf of 18 Tests in the Bazball era before they arrived in India for what was seen as the biggest test to their much-talked-about attacking approach. Both Stokes and McCullum remained confident that England can conquer India by playing flamboyant cricket. And when they stunned India in the series opener in Hyderabad, the pressure was on Rohit Sharma's India, who were without some of their established Test regulars.
However, it all came spiraling down quickly for England as India battled against all odds to script a sensational comeback and win the series 4-1 and took England's tally of losses in Bazball era to 8.
India could not have asked for a better finish to the series as they stamped their authority over the tourists with their second-biggest innings win over England in a Test at home.
England had an opportunity to make sure the scoreline of the series reflected the hard-fought nature of the first 4 Tests, but their limp surrender in the final Test did not help their cause.
India, in reply, had a record-breaking outing with the bat. Each of their top 5 batters, including centurions Rohit and Gill, hit at least a fifty as India piled up 477 in the first innings, the highest total in the series.
Thanks to Joe Root's fighting fifty, England's scorecard looked decent in the final innings as R Ashwin ran through the top-order, making sure Indian players had two extra days to rest before joining their respective IPL sides.
While captain Rohit Sharma led the young side from the front, the likes of Yashasvi Jaiswal (712 runs) and Shubman Gill (452) runs shone, shouldering the burden of scoring big runs in the absence of the likes of Virat Kohli and KL Rahul. India had as many as 5 debutants in the series and found new heroes in each of the five Tests to hammer England and move another step closer to reaching another World Test Championships final.
