And so to Lord’s, the series squared at 1-1, England comprehensively outplayed by India who wrapped things up with ease on a largely overcast Day Five. In terms of runs it was India’s second largest victory on English soil, only eclipsed by their win over England at Headingley in 2002.
Much was made of India’s curious team selection for this match, including admittedly by this correspondent , but in the end it proved fairly inconsequential, the tourists dominating England practically from start to finish.
But how did the individual players perform in this one-sided affair? Here we rate the players on both sides of this Test.
England
Zak Crawley - 2
Contributed very little with the bat, bagging a second innings duck with an ill-advised wafty shot right when a bit of concentration and application was needed. Also guilty of dropping Rishabh Pant when he was on just 10.
Ben Duckett - 3
After the highs of Headingley a return to earth. One of England’s six first innings ducks and then got a good ball in the second dig just as he looked to be putting India under some pressure.
Ollie Pope - 2
A first-ball duck in the first innings and a very scratchy looking 24 in the second will have done nothing to silence his doubters.
Joe Root - 4
An uncharacteristically quiet Test for England’s premier batsman, although got a superb ball to dismiss him in the second innings.
Harry Brook - 8
Impact Shorts
More ShortsFairly blameless in this one. Made 158 in the 303 run partnership with Jamie Smith that was about the only positive for England.
Ben Stokes (c) - 3
His decision at the toss backfired, he made the first golden duck of his career and was fairly inconsequential with the ball. A Test to forget for the England skipper.
Jamie Smith (wk) - 9
England’s standout performer with 184* and 88 across both innings. His batting was really about the only thing that went well for England.
Chris Woakes - 5
Looked dangerous at the start of the match and was unlucky not to pick up more early wickets, but after that was fairly innocuous. Provided nothing with the bat and his second innings dismissal did nothing to dispel the idea that he is shaky against the short ball.
Brydon Carse - 6
Probably the pick of England’s bowlers in a not very competitive field, but showed nothing like the same threat as India’s attack.
Josh Tongue - 5
Did at least wheedle out some top order wickets this time, but was expensive with the ball and never really seemed to put India under much pressure.
Shoaib Bashir - 4
Picked up a few cheap wickets but never really seemed to threaten India and at times looked like the second best spinner in the side after Root.
India
Yashasvi Jaiswal - 7
Will be disappointed not to have cashed in more on a batter’s paradise of a pitch, but made a punchy 87 in the first innings and seems to always have England under pressure.
KL Rahul - 6
Looks in good touch so far in this series and made a good second innings 50.
Karun Nair - 5
Perhaps the one weak-looking spot in India’s top order. Failed to kick on after making starts in both innings.
Shubman Gill (c) - 10
Simply superb. The first man in Test history to make a double hundred and a 150 in the same game . Captained India to a romping win.
Rishabh Pant (wk) - 7
Unmissable when at the crease, his second innings 65 was arguably the most entertaining part of the Test.
Nitish Kumar Reddy - 2
Brought in to strengthen India’s batting, made just two of the 1,014 runs India managed across both innings on an absolute featherbed.
Ravindra Jadeja - 8
Excellent with the bat, making 50s in both innings and was unlucky not to take more wickets. A constant thorn in England’s side.
Washington Sundar - 6
His selection did strengthen India’s tail and provided a useful second spin option, chipping in with some handy wickets.
Akash Deep - 9
Despite the helpful batting conditions looked a real threat to England’s batsman, particularly in the second innings where he picked up the first five-fer of his career.
Mohammed Siraj - 8
Jasprit who? Led the attack well in the absence of his more storied colleague and his first innings 6/70, included cleaning up England’s tail for next to nothing which was arguably the crucial point in the match.
Prasidh Krishna - 6
The least threatening of India’s bowlers, but still largely looked more dangerous than anything England had to offer.