Milestone man Ravichandran Ashwin’s fifer and centuries from Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rohit Sharma powered the Indian team to a handsome win in the 5th and final Test of the series at Dharamsala. The much-talked-about Bazball fell apart in the Indian conditions with the Rohit Sharma-led team closing the series on a strong note and winning it 4-1 to script a historic milestone. They outclassed Ben Stokes’ troops in the 5th Test by an innings and 64 runs as the bowlers ran through the Englis batting line-up on day 3 at the HPCA Stadium.
On a batting-friendly track of the Dharamsala venue, the visitors were overpowered twice with the willow. They were first bowled out for 218 in the first innings after yet again conceding the advantage that they had. They were once at 100/1 and looked set for a big total after seeing off a difficult period of seam-bowling up front.
The second innings was no exception with wickets falling left, right and center. In his 100th Test, Ravichandran Ashwin complemented his first innings four-wicket haul with a fifer in the second innings. Ashwin decimated England in the second innings to leave them 113/6. Jasprit Bumrah came and got two wickets to take India closer to a win. Joe Root and Shoaib Bashir combined for a valiant effort but Ravindra Jadeja ended the 47-run association.
This is the first time in 112 years that a team has won a five-match Test series by a margin of 4-1 after being 1-0 down. The last team to have done so was England, who recovered from 1-0 against Australia in Ashes 1911/12 to win by 4-1.