Team India has finally reduced England lead in the ongoing 5-match Test series from 2-0 to 2-1  after registering a humungous 203-run victory in the Nottingham Test on Wednesday. Now, it’s difficult to conclude that which team has an advantage while going into the fourth Test in Southampton, is it India who has made a strong comeback or England, who are actually having a lead in the series. Indian skipper Virat Kohli dedicates Team India’s victory to the Kerala flood victims.

While coming to the field on the final day of the Test match India needed just one wicket to registered their seventh Test win on the English soil in the history of the game. However, it took only ten minutes and 17 balls to wrap up the game and show their dominance over the hosts. It’s richly deserved victory for India, especially, after considering their morale after a mauling at Lord’s.

The Indian team was given an unexpected gift by the English skipper Joe Root, who chose to bowl first on a pitch that, looked grassy, looked dry on the first morning. India still needed to bat and bowl extremely well, though, and they did just that, session after session, to really gave a testimony of their numero uno position in the ICC Test team rankings. 

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During the post-match presentation, Root talked about their loss, he said, “It’s a strong team. It was always going to be a difficult decision (at the toss). We were performing extremely well with the ball, and potentially could have bowled them out quickly. India batted extremely well on that first day. I think it’s fair to say we underperformed in our first innings. The second-innings partnership between Jos and Ben was a lesson to us, the way they adapted to the situation, how clear they looked about how they were going to score their runs.”

Talking about their plans to get the Indian skipper Virat Kohli, Root said, “We’ve generally bowled well at him [Kohli], he’s not scored too quickly against us, but he’s found ways to score runs. We’re working extremely hard on our catching, we know it’s a massively important area.”

Root also asserted that these are still early days for Bairstow’s injury and they have to wait till the swelling comes down. He said that the wicket-keeper batsman is in fine form and it will be great if he plays.

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Pointing out the positives from the game, Root said, “We’ve got to be realistic about things – we’ve got two very good players at the top of the order. We’ve got to go back and find ways to adapt, and that’s not just those two guys. The best thing about [Buttler’s innings] is that he can crash the ball to all parts, but the thing about him is how he can look at a situation and work out how to play. To have that performance in the bank will give him a great deal of confidence.”

Kohli was also named as the player of the match for scoring 200 runs in the game and as soon as he got to speak with Micael Atherton at the presentation ceremony, Kohli dedicated the victory to the flood victims in Kerala. He said that those people are going through a lot, and this is the least they can do.

Talking about India’s performance in the Test, Virat said, “Very pleasing performance in all three departments. We only spoke about the fact that we were only outplayed in one Test out of the five we had played since South Africa, and that was at Lord’s. The bowling group was eager to take those 20 wickets again – the question was what we could do as batsmen to give them that cushion. When both skills come together with slip catching, we win Test matches.”

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He further added, “Very crucial how Rahane played, having lost Puji just before lunch. He’s very positive, we love that about him. He can change the whole complexion of the game, and that’s what he did. They’re a quality bowling attack and you need the grit to score against them, and that’s what Jinx in the first innings and Puji in the second showed.”

Describing his own performance, Kohli dedicated his innings to his wife and Bollywood actress Anushka Sharma. He said that Anushka has been a great motivation for him as she kept pushing him. He also added that his wife always keeps him positive.

Speaking about India’s bowling performance, Virat said, “The most pleasing thing for me to see was that the four fastest bowlers in the series have all been Indians. We’ve worked on our fitness, on our mindset, cutting down on loose deliveries.” When Atherton ask that if Team Indian believes that they can still win this Test series or not, the Indian skipper replied, “We definitely believe we can [win the series]. It wouldn’t be 2-1 now if we didn’t believe that. We just want to keep pushing forward and keep wanting to win.”

Despite having the lead, England has a bunch of things to ponder like their team combination and the forms of their top-order, especially with chances of Jonny Bairstow and Alastair Cook missing the Test at the Ageas Bowl. On the other hand, the visitors also have some injury concerns as their premier spinner R Ashwin was looking in immense discomfort while bowling and fielding. However, one thing needs to be considered here that the Indian selectors have earlier named the squad only for the first three Test and now when that many games are done and dusted, the inclusions for the final two Tests will be interesting to watch.

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There are still a lot of uncertainties in both the teams like the fitness of the Indian pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar, etc, but one thing is crystal clear, that this series is crackling with excitement now, and the fans now can’t wait for Thursday, August 30, when the fourth Test is scheduled to start.

Bried scores:

India 329 (V Kohli 97, A Rahane 81, J Anderson 3-64) and 352 (V Kohli 103, C Pujara 72, H Pandya 52, A Rashid 3-101) defeated England 161 (J Buttler 39, H Pandya 5-28) and 317 (J Buttler 106, B Stokes 62, J Bumrah 5-85) by 203 runs