After hundreds upon hundreds of runs on flat tracks in the ongoing series so far, it took the green top at The Oval to finally produce the best day of the Indian summer, on the fifth and last Friday of the Test series.
Prasidh Krishna opened up about the bond shared within India's pace unit
Four-Test-old all-rounder Jacob Bethell was awarded his maiden central contract by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) which offered two-year deals to 14 multi-format cricketers, including Test captain Ben Stokes and injury-plagued pacer Jofra Archer.
Manjrekar pulled no punches, singling out Ravindra Jadeja for failing to exploit the Day 5.
Jacob Bethell has represented England in 29 matches across all formats and will lead the team in the absence of the regular Test players.
As Indian bowlers' desperate search for a breakthrough continued on Day 5 of the first Test against England in Leeds, poor show by fielders added to their woes.
The contest between England's dialled-down "Bazball" approach and Australia's more methodical batting could determine who prevails in the Ashes series beginning in Perth on Friday.
England's Ashes hopes rest largely on the all-round performance of talismanic captain Ben Stokes, who took 17 wickets against India in the recent home series.
With Jasprit Bumrah crafting chances by the dozen, a spate of dropped sitters, including three by Yashasvi Jaiswal, handed England a lifeline and drew scathing remarks from Stuart Broad and Sunil Gavaskar.
England head coach Brendon McCullum believes India have arrived well-prepared and full of belief for the upcoming five-match Test series
Fired-up England reduced India to 58/4 chasing 193 for victory in a highly-charged final session on day four on Sunday as a gripping third Test at Lord's.
Gill clashed with England openers Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett, accusing them of deliberately wasting time.
Ahead of England's five-match Test series against India at home, head coach Brendon McCullum hailed young all-rounder Jacob Bethell
Daryl Mitchell's runs had steered the hosts to their victories in Tauranga and Hamilton and when he departed for 44 to leave his team still 27 runs from their target on 196-8, the English scented an unlikely victory.
England on Wednesday announced their playing XI for the opening Test of the five-match series against India, which will kickstart at Headingley on Friday.
Ben Duckett, Zak Crawley and Ollie Pope scored centuries to take England to a massive 498/3 at the close on the first day of their one-off Test against Zimbabwe.
England batsman Harry Brook said the tension with Indian players during the third Test at Lord's was fun and put the visitors under added pressure as England secured a dramatic 22-run victory and a 2-1 lead in the series.
Siraj, Krishna, Akash Shine as India's Pace Future Takes Shape
England's Harry Brook and Ben Duckett combined for a brilliant partnership and the returning Mark Wood snared three wickets as the visitors beat Pakistan by 63 runs in the third Twenty20 in Karachi on Friday to take a 2-1 lead in the seven-match series.
Yashasvi Jaiswal entered the first Test against England at Headingley with a sparkling century. He exited it under intense scrutiny - not for his batting, but for a torrid time in the slip cordon.
India are favourites to secure victory and draw the series, but England will still fancy their chances of completing what would be by far the highest successful Test run chase at The Oval.
All-rounder Jamie Overton, who played the only Test match of his career back in 2022, has been recalled to the 15-member England squad
Stokes admitted that the aggression from the Indian players added some adrenalin into his side.
Since going missing from red-ball action in 2021, the 30-year-old endured a period during which injuries constantly plagued him, especially a recurring stress fracture in his right elbow.
India unravelled on Day 2 of the fourth Test at Old Trafford, their bowling plans in disarray and tactical calls under scrutiny.
Siraj was the day's hero and India have pulled ahead, but England are not out of the contest by any stretch of imagination.
The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 auction saw some foreign names earning big bucks, headlined by Aussie all-rounder Cameron Green
'I'm worried. We're going to wander in and have a little game with the 'A' team. (It will be) 'Alright mate, how are you? Good on ya' and we're going to go and perform?'
The former India wicketkeeper believes the game still had some cricket left in it and that India had earned the right to continue batting.
Joe Root's patient unbeaten 99 led England to 251-4 on an attritional and compelling first day of the third Test against India at Lord's on Thursday.
India pacer Prasidh Krishna relished the banter with 'good mate' Joe Root on Day 2 of the fifth and final Test, and said riling up England's batting mainstay was part of the team's plans.
Shubman Gill admits India needs to relook lower-order batting after loss in 1st Test
The T20I series against South Africa will be played from 10-14 September, following the ongoing ODI series where the Proteas hold an unassailable 2-0 lead heading into the final match on Sunday.
Rishabh Pant is only the second wicketkeeper in the history of Test cricket to hit two hundreds in the same match.
'His hands are quite sore. We want to get his confidence back up.'
IMAGES from Day 2 of the 1st Test between England and India at Headingley in Leeds on Saturday.
This chase marked the sixth time under the Ben Stokes-Brendon McCullum leadership that England had hauled in targets of 250 or more in the fourth innings.
West Indies were always struggling in their chase as they lost wickets at regular intervals but their total was boosted by a fine unbeaten 79 from 45 balls by Rovman Powell before they ran out of deliveries.
It was the perfect start to Brook's reign as white ball captain as England recorded their second-largest win in terms of runs, second only to the 242-run thrashing of Australia in 2018.
Spin great Anil Kumble praised Nitish Kumar Reddy's showing with the ball on Day 1 of the Lord's Test on Thursday.
