Rajneesh Gupta presents some interesting numbers from Day 3.
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.
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".
Since 2011, England have managed to eke out just a single draw in 13 Ashes Tests over three tours and their last two Tests in Sydney have resulted in humiliating defeats.
Usman Khawaja will replace Travis Head in Australia's middle order for this week's fourth Ashes Test against England in the only change to the side that wrapped up the series in Melbourne last week.
Travis Head smashed a T20-style century to put Australia firmly in control of the first Ashes Test on Thursday as England were hit by an injury crisis during a miserable day two in the field at the Gabba.
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 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.
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.
England face a rejuvenated Australian team who have turned day-night cricket into a competitive advantage, winning all eight of their Tests under lights dating back to the format's 2015 debut.
Pat Cummins took a five-wicket haul in a dream start to his Australia captaincy as England were skittled for 147 by tea at the Gabba before rain brought the opening day of the Ashes to an early close.
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.
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.
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.
When Roy teamed up with Rory Burns against Ireland last week, they were England's eighth different opening partnership in the past three years and the 16th since Andrew Strauss retired in 2012.
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.
Jasprit Bumrah will have to squeeze every ounce of energy from his already overworked body, while Ajinkya Rahane will hope to get one final chance to save his international career when India take on England in the fifth and final Test, chasing a historic series win, in Manchester on Friday.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
Wood's injury has created an opening for Saqib Mahmood's Test debut and Root did not rule that out.
India's captain Virat Kohli will have to think overtime about the balance of his squad, with a long tail, often bushy with runs, and just two openers -- one untested (Rohit Sharma) but very capable and another supremely talented (KL Rahul) but highly reluctant starter.
Rajneesh Gupta presents all the numbers from the first Test in Rajkot.
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.
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.
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.
Ahead of the first Test between India and England in Rajkot, Rajneesh Gupta looks at the two teams and their numbers.
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.
A dominant India will be eyeing to clinch the five-Test series against England with yet another comprehensive victory when the two teams square off in the fourth match of the series starting from Thursday. With an unassailable 2-0 lead after three Tests, the confidence of the Virat Kohli-led team is sky high and they would like to regain the Anthony de Mello Trophy which they had lost to Alastair Cook's side back in 2012. Even if England manage a draw, India will win the series after the visitors' hat-trick of wins- 2011 in England, 2012 in India and 2014 in England again.
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.
