R. Ashwin celebrates after taking the wicket of England batsman Zak Crawley on the third day of the final Test match at HPCA Ground in Dharamshala on March 9, 2024.
| Photo Credit: R.V. Moorthy

The predictable happened swiftly. Under two sessions on the third day of the fifth Test here, India completed the demolition job of the surprisingly-willing Englishmen for a 4-1 series triumph.

After an embarrassing loss in the first Test, despite taking a 190-run lead, India turned the script around to win the next four. But none of India’s triumphs was as dominating as the one on Saturday, the margin being an innings and 64 runs.

For the record, India resumed its first innings and folded at 477 after losing overnight not outs, Man-of-the-Match Kuldeep Yadav and Jasprit Bumrah for the additional of four runs.

INFOGRAPHIC | R. Ashwin’s journey to 100 Tests, 500 wickets

Trailing by 259 runs, England was never in the hunt to save an innings loss. It lost five wickets before lunch and the rest in the second session to be cleaned up for just 195.

On a day when 41-year-old James Anderson, in his 187th Test, became the first fast bowler to take 700 Test wickets, R. Ashwin picked up five wickets to tally nine for 128 in his 100th Test.

Inexplicable was England’s rush to defeat. Beginning its second innings in the seventh session of a Test, the haste of the visiting batters to play the big shots was baffling. Hit firmly between the ears by the Indian spinners in the first innings, England showed that it had not learnt any lesson. The false bravado only hastened the end and left England in very poor light in the shortest of the five Tests.

When England batted again, Ashwin started from where he left off after taking the last four first-innings wickets. He sent back the top three batters before lunch as England reeled at 103 for five.

Ashwin bowled Ben Duckett, Ben Stokes and Ben Foakes by foxing each one differently. Duckett stepped out, got himself ‘yorked’ as the ball turned just enough to beat his heave and crashed into the off-stump.

Following a change of ends, Ashwin dismissed Stokes. Guilty of playing from the crease, falling to Bumrah and the turning ball in the series, he played forward defensively but was beaten and bowled. After lunch, Foakes paid the price for his attempted slog-sweep and gave the off-spinner a 36th five-wicket haul.

Jonny Bairstow, also playing his 100th Test, smashed three sixes and two of his three boundaries off Ashwin before being dismissed by Kuldeep.

Joe Root stood amid the ruins to post his 61st Test half-century during the ninth-wicket stand with Shoaib Bashir. He displayed the approach England needed to stay alive to fight another day. He was last out for 84, holing out to Bumrah off Kuldeep, the man who started the procession of England’s wickets in the first innings.

Scoreboard

England 1st Innings: 218 all out

India 1st Innings: 477 all out

England 2nd Innings: Zak Crawley c Sarfaraz Khan b Ashwin 0 Ben Duckett b Ashwin 2 Ollie Pope c Yashasvi Jaiswal b Ashwin 19 Joe Root c Bumrah b Kuldeep Yadav 84 Jonny Bairstow lbw b Kuldeep Yadav 39 Ben Stokes b Ashwin 2 Ben Foakes b Ashwin 8 Tom Hartley lbw b Bumrah 20 Mark Wood lbw b Bumrah 0 Shoaib Bashir b Jadeja 13 James Anderson not out 0 Extras: (B-6, LB-1, NB-1) 8

Total: (All out in 48.1 overs) 195

Fall of wickets: 1-2, 2-21, 3-36, 4-92, 5-103, 6-113, 7-141, 8-141, 9-189, 10-195

India bowling: Jasprit Bumrah 10-2-38-2, Ravichandran Ashwin 14-0-77-5, Ravindra Jadeja 9-1-25-1, Kuldeep Yadav 14.1-0-40-2, Mohammed Siraj 1-0-8-0.

Indian batsman Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill, both scored centuries on the second day of the final Test match at HPCA Ground in Dharamshala on March 8, 2024
| Photo Credit: R.V. Moorthy

Relentless India punished England all day and left it staring at another defeat after just two days of the fifth and final Test here.

Notwithstanding the late flurry of wickets, Friday saw India score 338 runs to reach 473 for eight and lead by 255 runs.

Overnight batters Shubman Gill and Rohit Sharma converted their half-centuries into centuries, something that debutant Devdutt Padikkal and Sarfaraz Khan could not.

A wicketless first session saw Rohit and Gill score 129 runs to put India 46 runs ahead of England’s 218. They reached their centuries in the space of three deliveries.

Gill was more aggressive of the two in reaching his fourth Test century after Rohit posted his 14th — sixth since 2021 — and maintained the solidity seen on the previous evening.

The second session — that produced 112 runs — proved more eventful.

Skipper Ben Stokes, whose last Test wicket came on June 28, 2023, chose to bowl after seven Tests since then. He opened the second over after lunch and bowled Rohit off his first delivery. The ball beat a rather casual Rohit to find the off-stump, much to the joy of Stokes’ team-mates even as the skipper remained expressionless.

Like it happens so often, the end of a long partnership — of 171 runs in this case — the partners departed in quick succession.

Gill, after hitting two boundaries of James Anderson in the first over after lunch, fell in the following over from the 41-year-old for the sixth time. The reverse-swing in the 63rd over foxed Gill and took the off-stump for a walk.

Two wickets in eight deliveries for England brought Sarfaraz and Padikkal together. A fortuitous edge past the lone slip saw the Karnataka left-hander get his first Test runs. He rode his luck to play some glorious strokes on both sides of the pitch. Soon Sarfaraz settled down and dominated the 97-run stand with some free-flowing shots in the hour before tea to reach a 55-ball 51, his third Test half-century.

Much like the post-lunch session, the post-tea play witnessed England taste early success. Sarfaraz departed by offering Joe Root, the lone slip, a low catch. Padikkal, who reached his 50 with a six off Bashir, went on to hit a couple of boundaries off Hartley before being bowled by the former.

If England lost three wickets at 175, India lost three in the space of one run. Bashir lured Dhruv Jurel to hole out to Ben Duckett at long-on for his fourth wicket. In the next over, Hartley ended Ravindra Jadeja’s struggle and sent back R. Ashwin for a duck in his 100th Test.

With India eight down at 428 and 18 overs remaining for stumps, the possibility of England getting to bat appeared bright. But Kuldeep Yadav and Jasprit Bumrah frustrated England with their unbroken 45-run stand.

R. Ashwin speaks to the Indian side ahead of his 100th Test Match on the first day of the 5th Test against England at Dharamshala on March 7, 2024.
| Photo Credit: R.V. Moorthy

“Test cricket is the closest synergy that you can find to life.” Ravichandran Ashwin’s voice trembled with emotion and pride during the gratitude-speech after receiving his special 100th Test cap from India head coach Rahul Dravid here on Thursday.

But Ashwin did not restrict that landmark moment, which came during the fifth and final Test against England, to himself but he championed the cause of Test cricket amidst money-spinning T20 leagues.

“IPL has been a hugely popular tournament; a lot of kids want to play T20 and get into the IPL. I really do wish that they get there. But remember one thing, this format (Test)… it is in a lot of things that life wouldn’t teach you,” Ashwin said.

“I think Test cricket is what life is. It is the closest synergy that you can find to life. It will teach you to adapt, dealing with pressures.”

The 37-year-old Ashwin, who made his Test debut in 2011, also paid handsome tribute to his father — Ravichandran — for believing in him and supporting his journey.

“It’s quite an emotional moment. Not just not just for me. I’m not one who would be shaken by emotions a lot. But today is a hugely emotional moment for a man who is sitting back in Chennai. Unfortunately, he couldn’t make it here,” Ashwin began before making a quick recollection of early days.

“The first day (as a kid cricketer), I still remember it very clearly, I would put my kit in front of the petrol tank, and then he would put me on the bike and take me to the coaching camp.

“A government employee (his dad) wanted to take his son all the way miles ahead in life, somewhere he imagined I would ever get. He got me here because of the help of my mom and, of course, my granddad,” he added.

His wife Preeti has been a big pillar of support for him in periods of struggles.

“My wife didn’t know what she was getting into. She’s gotten into it and she’s standing next to me today. I have got two lovely kids who are also enjoying my journey over the last few years,” Ashwin said.

After handing Ashwin the cap, Dravid said it was a well-deserved moment for the Tamil Nadu cricketer.

“You have given everything faithfully to the team and today is your 100th Test. It was a journey that started from the streets of Chennai. It’s been a long and eventful journey. It wouldn’t have been possible without your family. Congratulations to them as well.

“This is a well-deserved moment. It’s been a privilege speaking with you. It’s been a privilege to work with you as a coach. And of course, it’s a privilege to hand this cap to you,” Dravid said amidst applause from Ashwin’s teammates, who gave him a guard of honour while entering the field.