Virat Kohli-led Team India earn bragging rights at iconic venue where they lost to England in 2006 and 2012
Virat Kohli & Co have finally broken the Wankhede jinx against England yesterday. After two consecutive defeats in 2006 and 2012, this Indian team have not only defeated England by an innings and 36 runs, they have also taken an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-match series and regained the Anthony de Mello Trophy with one match to go in Chennai. This is India captain Kohli’s fifth successive series win. The winning streak started with last year’s win in Sri Lanka, followed by South Africa (home), West Indies (away), New Zealand (home) and now England.
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India had clinched five series in a row between 2008 and 2010 when they won against Australia, England and Sri Lanka.
It was sweet revenge for the home team this time as the match started in a similar fashion to their 2006 encounter when England first piled up 400 runs in the first innings. India were bowled out for 279 in the first innings but fought back to dismiss the visitors for 191 in the second innings. However, India still lost the match by 212 runs with England’s superior pace attack of Matthew Hoggard, James Anderson and Andrew Flintoff doing most of the damage.
The situation radically changed this time. Despite England scoring 400 in the first innings, India went on to win the match by a huge margin, after Ravichandran Ashwin picked one wicket each in his last five overs. Ashwin has so far picked 27 wickets in four Tests with his best bowling figures of 6-55 in an innings and 12-167 in a match.
Kohli said that they were under constant pressure during this series too. “We have been put under pressure many times. I give my team a lot of credit for bouncing back from those tough situations. We haven’t got anything on the platter. We had to work hard for it and this win is a result of the constant pressure that we had applied on the opposition and have forced them to make mistakes. While batting too, we have shown really good character to,” Kohli said.
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