The big news: India seal comprehensive series win

India beat England by an innings and 36 runs to win the series. With the victory, India take an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-match series. Ravichandran Ashwin took another five-wicket haul as he powered India on day five and England were bowled out for 195.

Beginning the day on 182/6, Ashwin bagged all four wickets with some fine bowling as the English batsmen failed to read his line or length. His victims on the fifth day were Jonny Bairstow, Chris Woakes, Adil Rashid and James Anderson.

He ended up with 12 wickets in the match and figures of 6/55 in the second innings. This was Ashwin’s 24th five-wicket haul. On Sunday, Virat Kolhi’s double hundred powered India to 631 after England posted 400 runs in their first innings. The fifth and final Test will take place in Chennai on December 16.

Other top stories:

  1. James Anderson gave India Test skipper’s brilliant form a cold shoulder in the press conference after the fourth day. Anderson said that Kohli was not so much an improved batsman but a batsman playing in conditions that did not exploit his “technical deficiencies”. “I’m not sure he’s changed,” Anderson said. “I just think any technical deficiencies he’s got aren’t in play out here. The wickets just take that out of the equation. We had success against him in England, but the pace of the pitches over here just take any flaws he has out of the equation. There’s not that pace in the wicket to get the nicks, like we did against him in England with a bit more movement. Pitches like this suit him down to the ground.” 
  2. Najam Sethi, head of Pakistan Cricket Board, has said that there was no possibility of an Indo-Pak bilateral series being held in 2017. “I don’t think it will happen because of the current scenario which will take time to change. But I also don’t think India will avoid playing us in the Champions Trophy next year in England,” Sethi said. “But we will only agree to not playing on Indian soil. But if for example, India agrees to matches with us on a neutral venue of our choice, which we host, then we will play them,” he said. The two teams have not played in a bilateral series since 2012.
  3. Bangladesh’s limited-overs captain Mashrafe Mortaza said their upcoming tour of New Zealand offers a tough challenge for his side because they have played mostly at home in the last two years. Bangladesh will play three One-Day Internationals, three Twenty20 Internationals and two Tests in New Zealand from December 26 to January 24.