Chennai: Ravindra Jadeja (7/48) scripted career-best Test figures in Ravichandran Ashwin’s hometown here Tuesday. Jadeja’s spell saw England collapse in their second innings after tea to be bowled out for 207 and lose the fifth and final Test against India by an innings and 75 runs at the Chepauk Stadium here.
India thus won the five-Test series 4-0, their best ever margin of victory in a series against England bettering the 3-0 home verdict against the same opponents achieved way back in the 1992-93 under the leadership of Mohammed Azharuddin
It was a sad tale of England batting, who lost their 10 wickets for 104 runs in 48.2 overs after openers Alastair Cook (49, 134b, 4×4) and Keaton Jennings (54, 121b, 7×4) had put on 103 runs in 39.4 overs. The match at that time appeared to heading for a tame draw with England not losing a single wicket in the pre-lunch session.
But then what transpired after lunch was the perfect example of why Test cricket is the most engrossing of all the three formats of the game. Jadeja, varying his pace and rushing through the overs quickly had the England batsmen in a heap of problems. He bowled a probing line and on a slow surface his quicker-through-the-air deliveries turned out to be the decisive factor between a win and a draw. This incidentally was the first time that he bagged 10 wickets in a Test match and he once more proved that he is a dangerous proposition on Indian pitches.
Not to forget the running behind for 20 yards catch he took to send back Jonny Bairstow off the bowling off Ishant Sharma. A catch, that had England legend Ian Botham stating “Only Jadeja in the Indian side could have taken such a catch.” Bairstow failed to keep an attempted pull down and Jadeja running back, with his eyes glued to the ball, picked it up out of thin air to send the Chepauk crowd and his teammates into a frenzy of joy.
Ashwin was luckless… he could have easily had a fifer in either of the two innings, the number of times he beat the bat. But then it was Jadeja’s day and Ashwin, for once had to hand over the baton to the Saurashtra all-rounder to take the responsibility of decimating England. Jadeja duly obliged.
For once morning did not show the day as England, going into the final session with six wickets in hand, collapsed. Moeen Ali (44, 97b, 4×4) failed to reach to the pitch of the ball and his uppish drive was picked up by a leaping Ashwin at mid-off. In the next Jadeja over, Stokes tried to defend, but the ball stopped and turned on him and his back-foot defensive prod landed in the hands of Karun Nair at mid-wicket. Amit Mishra (1/30) then bowled Liam Dawson with a googly while Umesh Yadav (1/36) had Adil Rashid caught at point, by who else, but Jadeja and suddenly England were looking down the barrel. Stuart Broad and Jake Ball defended dourly for close to seven overs, but then it was highly unexpected of them to survive against Jadeja, who had his tail up. The end came swiftly, Ball’s edge picked up by Nair at slips.
Earlier, in spite of some anxious moments in the morning Cook and Jennings survived. They played the ball late and punished the loose deliveries. Jennings looked particularly positive as he marched to his second half century of the series in only his second Test. But after lunch, things changed in a flash.
Cook after surviving a leg before review, perished for the sixth time in the series to Jadeja. He went too far across the off-stump to Jadeja and his glide to the leg was picked up brilliantly at backward short-leg by KL Rahul. Jennings, who had been skipping down the pitch, did it once too often against Jadeja. He was beaten in flight and could only hit a return catch back to the bowler. And the final nail in England’s coffin happened when Virat Kohli successfully used the DRS against Joe Root after Jadeja had hit the batsman on the pad, while trying to sweep
Kohli eyes many more milestones
India skipper Virat Kohli made it clear after the game here Tuesday that India have just reached the ‘tip of success’ and that the team were eager to conquer more in the years to come.
“We may have not lost 18 Tests in a row, we may have won this series 4-0, but then this is just the beginning. We have got many things to achieve and hopefully we will do that in the upcoming season,” Kohli told reporters. “To win nine Tests in a year when we are a team in transition, is really a great feat. But this is just the foundation that’s been laid for us to carry on for lot many years. We don’t want to sit back on our laurels,” he added. 
Kohli also was all praise for Ravindra Jadeja. However, more than his bowling, Kohli said that the left-hander’s batting has come of age. “This is something we talked about before the start of the season, his ability as a bowler and fielder is well known. His batting now has added a different dimension to his game,” stated Kohli. “He takes tremendous pride in his performance… today for once he overshadowed (Ravi) Ashwin and I am sure that Ashwin himself will be proud of this fact.”
Lauding the lower-order’s contribution with the bat Kohli was also all praise for youngsters like KL Rahul and Karun Nair. “Look at them, they are street smart players, they know exactly what they have to do to retain their place in the side. This is the next generation, so imagine what a great sign it is for Indian cricket… we have such huge talented cricketers to fall back on,” pointed out the Indian skipper.
India maintain top Test spot
India have ended the year as the No.1 ranked Test side after posting a 4-0 win over England in the five-match series which ended Tuesday. The series win has helped India gain five points and they have moved to 120 in the last Test team rankings update of 2016, 15 points ahead of second placed Australia. Series losers England have slipped to fifth from second position. They are now on 101 points.
