India's spinners were thwarted by a splendid display of ultra-defensive batting by England before the hosts took control dismissing rival skipper Alastair Cook on an engrossing fourth day of the second Test in Visakhapatnam.
Rajneesh Gupta presents some interesting numbers from Day 3.
Ravindra Jadeja struck a career-best 70 not out as he and his lower order colleagues earned India a substantial 71-run first innings lead by lunch on the third day of the third Test against England on Monday. - Scorecard: The hosts were 354 for seven at the break with Jayant Yadav batting on 26, the pair having already amassed 53 runs for their flourishing eighth-wicket partnership.
Curator Kasturi Sriram said that unlike the Rajkot wicket, the 22-yard strip in Visakhapatnam to be provided for the second Test against England "won't have much grass".
Murali Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara hit centuries and shared a stand of 209 to lead India to 319-4 in their first innings on the third day of the opening Test in Rajkot, on Friday, trailing England by 218 runs.
Former Pakistan Test cricketer Saqlain Mushtaq has called on the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) to appoint a full-time spin bowling coach before expressing his desire to fill in the position. The Pakistan off-spinner is currently assisting the England team on a brief consultancy basis, having joined the squad after the two Tests in Bangladesh.
England openers Alastair Cook and Haseeb Hameed made India's bowlers toil without success for 50 overs on Sunday but their lack of intent to score runs made the team's survival even more difficult, the hosts' captain Virat Kohli said.
England batsman Joe Root and Sri Lanka spinner Rangana Herath have moved up to second positions in their respective ICC Test player rankings but failed to displace top-ranked batsman Steve Smith and bowler Ravichandran Ashwin.
Indian bowlers were made to toil as England began their campaign on a promising note, riding on star batsman Joe Root's 11th century to finish the opening day of the first cricket Test at a solid 311/4 in Rajkot on Wednesday. - Scorecard England's leading batsman in recent years, Root was his customary elegant self and made 124 off 180 balls, while Moeen Ali was one short of his fourth Test hundred when the stumps were drawn after 93 overs at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium.
Joe Root was earmarked as a future England captain from the day he made his Test debut in 2012 and after scoring a bucket-load of runs he duly landed the job just over four years later.
Keaton Jennings will make his England debut as captain Alastair Cook's latest opening partner in the fourth and penultimate test against India at the Wankhede Stadium on Thursday.
With England gasping for breath after losing half their side on day two, assistant coach Paul Farbrace said he was not surprised by how the day panned out at Visakhapatnam on Friday.
They might have been disappointing so far but Indian opener Murali Vijay is still hopeful that the Indian spinners will utilise the spin-friendly conditions on the final day. Scorecard: "It's a pretty good wicket, (though it has) gone slower. There's a lot of assistance to the spinners now. Hopefully we can put some pressure in the morning session get some wickets and you never know," said Vijay after the fourth day's play at the SCA Stadium in Rajkot. Vijay feels that India still have the edge.
India spinners once again held centre-stage as the hosts produced a clinical performance to cruise to a comfortable eight-wicket victory on the fourth day of the third cricket Test and take a 2-0 lead in the five-match series.
England's defensive batting approach against India was a conscious decision to save the second Test on a wearing track, the touring side's captain Alastair Cook said after the hosts took a 1-0 lead in the series in Visakhapatnam on Monday.
India spinners Ravichandran Ashwin and Jayant Yadav claimed three wickets apiece in the second innings to lead the hosts to a comfortable 246-run win in the second Test against England on Monday and a 1-0 lead in the five-match series. - Scorecard: England, chasing an improbable victory target of 405, were all out for 158 shortly after lunch on the fifth and final day in the first Test match being played in the port city of Visakhapatnam.
England claimed seven Indian wickets in an extended morning session on the fourth day on Sunday to bowl out the hosts for 204 but will need to pull off a stiff 405-run chase on a fast-deteriorating wicket to win the second Test in Visakhapatnam.
Ravichandran Ashwin has played a big role in grooming Jayant Yadav and the debutant profusely thanked India's star spinner for his impressive debut in the second Cricket Test against England on Visakhapatnam.
England off-spinner Moeen Ali claimed three quick wickets to help restrict India to 415 for seven on the second morning of the second test on Friday. - Scorecard: All-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin was closing in on his second half-century of the series and was unbeaten on 47 with debutant off-spinner Jayant Yadav not out on 26 at the other end. Resuming the second day on 317-4 in the first ever test match in the port city of Visakhapatnam, captain Virat Kohli and Ashwin steered India smoothly with a fifth wicket partnership of 35.
England coach Trevor Bayliss has dubbed his team's performance in the drawn first Test against India as "the best since he had been with the Alastair Cook-led team". Chasing an improbable target of 310 runs, Indian skipper Virat Kohli and all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja hung in as they remained unbeaten on 49 and 32 respectively in a tense final session to deny England victory at the Saurashtra Cricket Stadium on Sunday. Despite the outcome of the opening Test of the five-match series, Bayliss was impressed by the commitment his side had shown in gruelling conditions as well as on surfaces where England players generally struggle.
'England are a quality side, their bowlers put constant pressure. We need to accept what happened' 'It was a really tough five days, good toss to win'
Under fire after a below-par show on a good batting strip, the Indian spinners will aim for an improved show on a comparatively more helpful track as they take on a gritty England in the second Test, starting in Visakhapatnam on Thursday.
Down 0-2 in the five-Test series against India, England captain Alastair Cook feels his team needs to go back to the first match at Rajkot and pick a few pointers from that match.
India captain Virat Kohli revealed that his team got the extra motivation for winning the third Test after he lost the toss and therefore the opportunity to bat first on a good wicket. Scorecard Winning the toss and batting on the opening day is considered as a big advantage in Indian conditions but Kohli and Co overcame that to win the game by eight wickets.
Riding on Joe Root's ton and Moeen Ali's half century (99 batting), England made most of the favourable conditions to finish Day 1 on 311/4. Here are the statistical highlights from Day 1 of the 1st Test in Rajkot on Wednesday.
India spinners roared back to form and leave England reeling at 103 for five in their first innings as the hosts strengthened their position on Day 2 of the second Test in Visakhapatnam on Friday.
India captain Virat Kohli's stoic batting helped India eke out a draw on the fifth and final day in the opening Test against England in Rajkot on Sunday. But it was his English counterpart Alastair Cook, who stole the show and the records on the day!
It was the first time in the history of Indian cricket that three players -- Ashwin, Jadeja and Jayant -- batting at No 7 or below have scored a half-century each in the same innings.
India's spinners wreaked havoc on Day 5 as England were bowled out for a paltry 158 to go down by a huge margin of 246 runs in the second Test in Visakhapatnam.
A livid Ravichandran Ashwin asked the media to stop criticising the slow and spin-suited Indian pitches, saying he is fed up answering the oft-repeated queries.
Putting down catches of England captain Alastair Cook and debutant opener Haseeb Hameed in the first hour of play spoiled India's chances of getting an early crack at the visiting team's middle-order, conceded India's batting coach Sanjay Bangar after the first day's play of the Rajkot Test on Wednesday.
Rajneesh Gupta presents all the numbers from the first Test in Rajkot.
Ahead of the first Test between India and England in Rajkot, Rajneesh Gupta looks at the two teams and their numbers.
India bowled with a lot of perseverance to restrict England to 268 for 8 despite a defiant 89 from Jonny Bairstow on Day 1 of the third cricket Test in Mohali on Saturday.
India survived a scare before managing to draw the first Test against England, who gained the psychological advantage after enjoying the upper-hand for the better part of the five days, in Rajkot, on Sunday.
The India captain's formula of getting runs consistently is just to go out there and live in the situation rather than thinking of runs as his ultimate goal.
Keaton Jennings impressed on his debut for England with a century but off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin brought India back with a late three-wicket burst on the opening day of the fourth cricket Test in Mumbai on Thursday. - Scorecard England were going strong by taking tea at 196 for two but India reduced the visitors to 288 for five at stumps as Ashwin removed Moeen Ali (50) and Jennings (112) in space of three balls and later got rid of Jonny Bairstow (14). Ben Stokes (25) and Jos Buttler (18) were the unbeaten batsmen at close after an unfinished stand of 39 on a track that would be difficult to negotiate with passage of time.
Hosts India would look to do an encore by putting England through another rigorous spin test when the two teams square off in the third Test starting in Mohali, on Saturday.
England seamer Stuart Board said he has learned a few tricks from former India pace spearhead Zaheer Khan on how to excel on the sub-continent pitches.
India skipper Virat Kohli said critics cannot now question his team's ability to force a draw from tough situations as he dug his heels and led the side to a draw in the series-opener, in Rajkot on Sunday.
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