India continue unbeaten streak at home, Kohli registers 10th consecutive home series win

While Virat Kohli might have prolonged the wait for his 71st century, the skipper registered an impressive feat on Saturday as Team India conquered England in the 4-match Test series. The Indian team defeated England by 25 runs and an innings to clinch a 3-1 series victory at the Narendra Modi Stadium. By virtue of the victory against England, Team India have maintained to remain unbeaten at home for over 5 years now. 

The series victory against England also marked Virat Kohli's 10th consecutive home series win at his fortress. Moreover, Team India leapt to the top of the ICC Test Rankings to reclaim the throne. With England's defeat, Kohli & Co also booked their tickets to the Lord's to face New Zealand in the World Test Championship finale in June this year. 

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Sundar, Pant shine for India

Resuming their innings at 294/7, the middle-order duo of Axar Patel and Washington Sundar kept the scoreboard ticking before the former was dismissed for a well-made 43. By then the duo had already added 106 runs for the eighth-wicket stand. Sundar, on the other hand, made the English bowlers pay for their errant bowling and at one point it appeared as if he would comfortably breach the three-figure mark. However, it was not to be as he ended up losing partners at the other end and remained stranded at 96 as India were bundled out for 365.

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In reply, the English batsmen once again failed to find their feet as India's frontline spinners wracked havoc. In the top order, only Test skipper Joe Root (30) managed to show some resistance. Middle-order batsman Dan Lawrence looked to deny the inevitable with a fighting 50* but he waged a lone battle as the visitors were bundled out for 135 in their second innings as the Virat Kohli-led side won the game by an innings and 25 runs to register back-to-back series wins in the longest format of the game.

Shastri on India's journey

Expressing delight over India's 3-1 series win against England, Head Coach Ravi Shastri took a sigh of relief as his team booked their spot in the World Test Championship finale. Tracing India's journey from 36 all down in Adelaide to the comprehensive win on Saturday against England, Shastri expressed that the team never thought of the WTC and just took one series at a time. He also added that the result of the first Test in Chennai could have been different had India got a 'bit of rest' after the lengthy Australia tour. 

Shunning the complaints against the pitches and the noise made, the Indian head coach lauded the groundsmen for doing a 'fantastic job'. To buttress his point, Shastri highlighted the 3-1 scoreline as he said that it doesn't reflect 'how close' the series was. 

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