India has moved to the second spot of the World Test Championship (WTC) with England slipping to the fourth.
From fans at the stadium to the Men in Blue winning the second Test, India surely made a great comeback against England at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.
The comprehensive 317-run thrashing has also helped India move to the second spot of the World Test Championship (WTC) with England slipping to the fourth.
The series that has been levelled 1-1 saw spinner Axar Patel take a fifer, Ravichandran Ashwin smashing a century on Day 3 and Rohit Sharma's assault on the first day itself had sealed the deal for India.
So let's take a look at the moments from Day 4 of the second Test.
1. Rishabh Pant pulls off quick stumping
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While Rishabh Pant has been on a roll with the bat, his keeping skills have also seen a drastic change. Pant fashioned a lightning-quick stumping off R Ashwin's bowling early on the fourth day to remove overnight batsman Dan Lawrence.
Lawrence had batted with a lot of intent and had reached 26, but his questionable shot selection and witty bowling from Ashwin saw Pant stump him off in style.
The incident took place in the 26th over of the innings and seventh of the day. Ashwin on his first ball of the day sensed Lawrence would try and come down the wicket.
That's what happened and Lawrence jumped down the wicket but Ashwin bowled it on the batsman's legs and the turn off the surface beat Lawrence down the leg.
Pant soon went across and collected the ball and though he lost his balance, the wicketkeeper reacted sharply and stumped Lawrence down leg.
2. Axar Patel's fifer
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Axar Patel who had missed his debut a week ago with a niggle in the knee made sure to come back stronger as he took a fifer to give India the desired win.
Dominic Sibley (3), Jack Leach (0), Joe Root (33), Ollie Pope (12) and Olly Stone (0) were all victims of Axar's spin magic.
Spinners taking five-fer on Test debut for India:
5/64 - VV Kumar v Pak, Delhi 1960/61
6/103 - D Doshi v Aus, Chennai 1979/80
8/61 & 8/75 - N Hirwani v WI, Chennai 1987/88
5/71 - Amit Mishra v Aus, Mohali 2008/09
6/47 - R Ashwin v WI, Delhi 2011/12
5/41 - Axar Patel v Eng, Chennai 2020/21
3. Kuldeep Yadav's inclusion hype
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When Shahbaz Nadeem was favoured over Kuldeep Yadav in the first Test against England in Chennai, netizens and critics were unhappy with the decision.
So when he did get a chance in the 2nd Test, still many were not satisfied stating the overs he bowled were less compared to that of the other two spinners.
Kuldeep bowled a total of 12.2 overs in both sessions combined and took two wickets on Day 4 - Ben Foakes and Moeen Ali. Fans still questioned asking was the bowler's inclusion in the playing XI only due to the hype created?
4. England lost by 317 runs
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England losing the 2nd Test by 317 runs was the English side's biggest defeat in Asia in terms of runs. The last time they lost to big score was 246 runs vs India in Vizag during the 2016/17 tour.
This loss also ended England's sub-continental six-match winning chase.
As for India, their previous biggest win against England was by 279 runs at Leeds in 1986.
Biggest Test wins for India (by runs):
337 vs SA Delhi 2015/16
321 vs NZ Indore 2016/17
320 vs Aus Mohali 2008/09
318 vs WI North Sound 2019
317 vs Eng Chennai 2020/21
304 vs SL Galle 2017- Five of the top six wins coming under Virat Kohli's captaincy
5. World Test Championship (WTC)
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Team India drew level in the four-match series and also kept their hopes of making it to the final of the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) alive.
India have bolstered their chances as the win took India to the second spot in the WTC points table. The Virat Kohli-led side had dropped to the fourth spot in the points table after losing the first Test in Chennai by 227 runs.
With 460 points from 15 Tests, India earned 69.7 percentage of points and they now need to win the series by 2-1 or 3-1 to make it to the final.
As for England, they dropped to the fourth spot. The visitors had moved to the top following their win in the first Test. The Joe Root-led side now needs to win the remaining two Tests to make it to the final.
New Zealand are currently at the top of the points table while Australia are at the third spot and for them to make it to the final the result of India vs England is vital.
