Led by Shubman Gill, a defiant India put on a mentally strong and technically disciplined response to keep the series alive with England 2-1 up. While there were plenty of positives to take forward, a few concerns continue to linger as the series heads to a decider at The Oval.
'You are going to face an England team where Joe Root is back to his absolute best, where Oliver Pope is playing his best-ever for England. Ben Stokes has amalgamated the team and got playing in an ultra-positive and rock and roll fashion.'
India, who have not lost a Test series at home since 2012, finished day two on a commanding 421-7 in their robust reply to England's middling 246 in the first innings.
Captain Shubman Gill and the ever-dependable K L Rahul gave India a glimmer of hope with resilient half-centuries after a well crafted hundred from Ben Stokes extended England's supremacy in the fourth Test in Manchester on Saturday.
Both players had a forgettable outing at Brisbane as Australia went 1-0 up in the series.
England captain Eoin Morgan insisted that although they produced an aggressive brand of cricket, the real test would be to find consistency.
Joe Root smashed an unbeaten century to steer England to a convincing eight-wicket against Bangladesh in the opening match of the ICC Champions Trophy in London, on Thursday.
England captain Ben Stokes will play in The Hundred this year after the conclusion of England's test series with West Indies.
An injury-plagued India could be forced to depart from their preferred template when they takes on a reinvigorated England in the fourth Test starting in Manchester on Wednesday.
This isn't just a Test match - it's a test of Shubman Gill's leadership, temperament, and decision-making.
Stokes, the leading wicket-taker of the series with 17 scalps, will be a mere spectator at The Oval, robbing the series finale of his charismatic on-field presence.
Joe Root's third hundred powered England to a five-wicket victory over Sri Lanka in the fifth One-day international in Pallekele on Thursday and kept alive their hopes in the seven-match series. After rain forced play to be suspended on Wednesday, the visitors returned to chase down a 240-run victory target and won with five balls to spare.
IMAGES from the second Test between England and the West Indies in Nottingham on Thursday.
'To also have the benefit of Joe's bowling out here is obviously massive. I'm surprised he's not actually mentioned he's nipped above me, but I think we're just two people who don't really care about stuff like that.'
'If we're going to be the best team in the world we're going to have to play on good wickets which are flat in certain periods. We're also going to have to be able to learn to deal with the scoreboard pressure. We should also be able to deal with the pressure of spinning wicket towards the back end of the Test match.'
England's Test captain Joe Root considers India's Virat Kohli as currently the most complete player around and said he expects England team mate Jos Buttler to soon replicate his limited-overs dominance in Test cricket.
Yashasvi Jaiswal, who has moved up a spot to seventh.
'The wicket was good to bat on, a lot of the batters got starts but didn't convert. This win gives us a lot of confidence. Very proud of such a young squad.'
England batsman Joe Root on Wednesday expressed joy at the "good day" his side experienced and was also confident that they can take the six remaining Indian wickets on day five of the third cricket Test in Southampton.
'I always know that when he gets into that game, he'll want to put his mark on it, put his stamp on it.'
Indian batters are not known for their sweeping skills but they made a conscious effort to practise that shot in their opening net session ahead of the second Test against England beginning in Visakhapatnam on Friday.
Abbas also acknowledged the consistency displayed by India across formats and said the Rohit Sharma-led team will be a strong contender for the upcoming Champions Trophy.
Two debatable decisions went against England in the first Test against India at Trent Bridge and middle-order batsman Joe Root said it was "little frustrating" to play without the Decision Review System.
England skipper Joe Root said he feels like the spectators have almost been "robbed" as they came to watch to the stadium to watch Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma face the likes of James Anderson and Stuart Broad but instead watching him taking wickets.
South Africa crushed England by seven wickets in their final group match to storm into the semi-finals of the ICC Champions Trophy.
England skipper Jos Buttler expressed delight in Ben Duckett's record-breaking knock even as he hailed Australia for chasing down a massive total of 352 runs in the ICC Champions Trophy Group B match in Lahore on Saturday.
England captain Joe Root hailed Moeen Ali as a role model and said he would be a huge loss to the Test side after the all-rounder announced his decision to quit the longest format of the game on Monday.
England captain Alastair Cook has reportedly given his permission to his team to carry on drinking whenever they win despite England batsman Joe Root getting punched by Australian opener David Warner.
'Virat not in the same Bat balancing league as Joe.'
Rachin Ravindra's blistering century against South Africa in the Champions Trophy semi-final, his fifth in just 13 ICC ODI innings, places him among cricket's elite.
England batting mainstay Joe Root has dismissed "trash talk" by Pakistan paceman Wahab Riaz who claimed he has got the batsman's number going into the first Test at Lord's starting on Thursday.
Technique and natural pace may me Jadeja's undoing in England
Joe Root expects Alastair Cook to continue to lead England for "a few years to come" amid rising speculation on the future of the 31-year-old as test captain. The left-handed opening batsman triggered doubts about his captaincy when he told the Cricketer magazine that he did not know "how much longer I am going to carry on. It could be two months, it could be a year".
England had taken a 1-0 lead in the five-match series in India but Ben Stokes and his men let the hosts draw parity in the second Test as all their batters were unable to get big scores.
Josh Inglis smashed a maiden ODI century (120 not out) to lead Australia to a thrilling five-wicket victory over England in a high-scoring Champions Trophy match.
Josh Inglis slammed a brilliant century as Australia completed the highest chase in an ICC men's tournament against England in Lahore on Saturday.
Images from Day 3 of the second Test between England and Australia at Lord's on Saturday.
The Rajasthan Royals team met His Holiness the Dalai Lama in Dharamsala.
England batsman Joe Root will miss the World Twenty20 in Bangladesh after fracturing his thumb, with Ian Bell replacing him, the International Cricket Council (ICC) confirmed on Monday.
Jos Buttler will captain the team for the Caribbean tour, with Gus Atkinson, Harry Brook, Brydon Carse, Sam Curran and Liam Livingstone featuring in the ODI group from the showpiece event.
