India head coach Rahul Dravid lauds team following series win against England

NEW DELHI: Head coach Rahul Dravid lauded the players in the dressing room after India won the final Test against England by an inning and 64 runs on Saturday at Dharamsala and clinched the five-match series 4-1.

The 51-year-old began by complimenting his players and the support staff on the three-month-long series. Dravid then praised the players’ perseverance and ability to recover despite losing the 1st test. India lacked senior batters Virat Kohli and KL Rahul, as well as main pacer Mohammed Shami. They fielded a far less experienced team comprising young players who were determined to contribute to the victory.

“Firstly, a huge congratulations to every one of you, the team, the players, and the support staff. Think there were times in the series when we were really challenged. We were pushed and we really found a way to bounce back, comeback. This speaks to the skills we have, the resilience we have, the character we have,” Dravid said inside the dressing room.

“There’ve been many occasions in the series where the games could have gone either way but we always found people in this dressing room who stepped up and turned the game our way. I think that was fantastic,” the head coach added.

“Not only do we need to win the games when you have to fight back, bounce back which we did pretty well but you have to also win the games when you’re ahead and don’t let the opposition come back in any situation. So well done on that as well,” the former right-hand batter concluded.

Coming to the match, after winning the toss and opting to bat first, the visitors were bundled out for 218 in their first innings, with Zak Crawley (79 in 108 balls, with 11 fours and a six) top-scored for England, Jonny Bairstow (29), and Joe Root (26) the only notable contributors with the willow.
Kuldeep Yadav (5/72) and Ravichandran Ashwin (4/51) topped the bowling charts for India.

In their first innings, India again out-batted England by a country mile, with the opening pair of skipper Rohit Sharma (103 in 162 balls, with 13 fours and three sixes) and Yashashwi Jaiswal (57 in 58 balls, with five fours and three sixes), contributing handsomely and putting the English attack to the sword.

Debutant Devdutt Padikkal (65 in 103 balls, with 10 fours and a six) and Sarfaraz Khan (56 in 60 balls, with eight fours and a six) also came up with crucial hands. After a mini-collapse, the ninth-wicket pair of Kuldeep Yadav (30 in 69 balls, with two fours) and Jasprit Bumrah (20 in 64 balls, with two fours) raised a 49-run stand to take India to 477, giving them a lead of 259 runs over the visitors.

Shoaib Bashir (5/173) was the pick of the bowlers for England while Tom Hartley and the veteran, James Anderson took two wickets apiece. Skipper Ben Stokes also got a wicket off his first ball of the series.

England were tasked to cut down on deficit of 259 runs in their second innings. Though Joe Root (84 in 128 balls, with 12 fours) attempted to fight it out for England, he got very little support from the other end. Jonny Bairstow (39 in 31 balls, with three fours and three sixes) and Tom Hartley (20 in 24 balls, with four boundaries) contributed respectable scores, but nothing could help Root avert a disaster as England was bundled out for 195, handing England a defeat by an innings and 64 runs. England also lost the series 4-1. Ashwin ended the match in the first session itself, demolishing the English top-order and ending with a five-wicket haul.

Ashwin (5/77) was the pick of the bowlers for India. Kuldeep Yadav and Jasprit Bumrah took two wickets each, while Ravindra Jadeja got one. (ANI)