The big news: Fifth straight series win for India
India beat England by an innings and 36 runs to win the series. With the victory, India take an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-match series. Ravichandran Ashwin, with another five-wicket haul, powered India on day five as England were bowled out for 195. Beginning the day on 182/6, Ashwin bagged all four wickets with fine bowling as the English batsmen failed to read his line or length.
With 12 wickets in the match and figures of 6/55, Ashwin was the man of the hour for India. Earlier, Virat Kolhi’s double hundred powered India to 631 after England posted 400 runs in their first innings. The fifth and final Test will take place in Chennai on December 16.
Other top stories:
- On Monday, South Africa’s AB de Villiers said he will step down as captain of the Test team. Cricket South Africa confirmed that Faf du Plessis would be the permanent Test captain of the side. De Villiers had missed the recently concluded series against Australia due to an elbow injury. He has since been ruled out of the Proteas upcoming three match Test series against Sri Lanka as well.
- Indian Test skipper Virat Kohli wants his team to focus on results and not worry about personal milestones. “One thing that I really wanted the team to do was express themselves in Test matches and not think about personal performances. Because a lot of the times, you have an hour in the Test match where you can take the game away and you are still not willing to go for it because you are close to your milestone or things like that. These are the things that we have gotten out of our system completely. We just look at the situation and play and that is why we have been in winning positions more often than not,” Kohli said, after winning the Wankhede Test.
- Australia spinner Nathan Lyon has urged not to overdo day-night Tests, as Australia prepare for their second of back-to-back pink-ball Tests this summer. The Australia-Pakistan game at the Gabba will be the fourth day-night Test ever played. “I don’t think we need to overkill it,” Lyon said. “It’s been a great success down in Adelaide but I think it’s quite important we leave Test cricket still a traditional game. We don’t come in and overkill the pink ball.
- England skipper Alastair Cook backed Joe Root to lead England in the longer format. “I think Joe Root is ready to captain England,” Cook said following England’s loss in the fourth Test against website. “He is ready because he is a clued-up guy and he has the respect of everyone in the changing room. You never know until you actually experience it and everything that comes with the England captaincy. You are thrown in at the deep end and you kind of sink or swim. Nothing can prepare you for it. He has not got much captaincy experience but that does not mean everything.”
- The first ever day-night Ashes Test will be played at the Adelaide Oval after the 2017-’18 Ashes schedule was announced. The series will begin at the Gabba in Brisbane, on November 23, and will conclude with back-to-back Tests at Melbourne and Sydney over the Christmas and New Year period. The fifth Test will be played at the Sydney Cricket Ground on January 4.