Top five moments from England's tour of India

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  • It was a memorable winter for Kohli and his team.

    England’s recently concluded tour of India had more than its fair share of memorable moments.

    Although England struggled to compete with India in the Test matches, they ran the hosts much closer in the limited overs encounters.

    Virat Kohli’s team continue to make giant strides in the Test arena, stretching their undefeated record to 18 matches. The 28-year-old also took over as India’s limited overs captain, becoming his country’s first skipper across all three formats.

    Here, we look at the top five moments from the tour.

    INDIA’S LOWER-ORDER SHINES IN MOHALI

    After the drubbing at Visakhapatnam, England were bidding to sneak their way back into the series in the Mohali Test.

    After posting a reasonable total on a seaming pitch, Ben Stokes and Adil Rashid reduced India to 204/6. A weak lower-order could have conceded the first innings lead and set up a tricky fourth innings chase for India.

    However, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Jayant Yadav combined forces to take India to 417 and earned a substantial first innings lead, allowing India a measly fourth-innings chase.

    The lower-order continued to show similar conviction throughout the Test series.

    NAIR MAKES IT BIG

    Karun Nair made his Test debut in Mohali, and would go on to score only 4 and 13 in his first two Tests.

    However, in the final Test at Chennai, Nair showed the world what he is capable of. He became only the second Indian ever to score a Test triple century as he hit the hapless English bowling to all parts of the ground.

    Nair’s knock will surely be remembered for many years to come.

    Karun Nair.

    Karun Nair.

    JADHAV COMES TO THE PARTY

    Faced with the daunting task of chasing down 351, it looked like Kohli would be losing his first limited overs match as captain when India were languishing at 63/4.

    Kohli is one of the greatest chasers in the history of the game, but when you’re chasing over 350, the team needs more than just one batsman to come good.

    England might have focused on the Indian skipper, but there was another batsman who flourished at the other end.

    Kedar Jadhav’s aggressive batting turned 350 into a sub-par score. The diminutive Maharashtra batsman bludgeoned his way to a 65-ball ton as India comfortably chased down what looked like an imposing total.

    YUVRAJ, DHONI ROLL BACK THE CLOCK

    A decade ago, a Dhoni-Yuvraj partnership used to be feared by bowlers around the world.

    Yuvraj Singh’s career took a downward slope in the immediate aftermath of the 2011 World Cup when he was diagnosed with cancer, while Dhoni had a difficult time with the bat in 2016.

    In the second ODI at Cuttack, Dhoni joined Yuvraj in the middle when India’s score read 25/3. Both players built their innings beautifully, starting off with caution before launching big hits.

    Yuvraj and Dhoni notched up stunning centuries to lead India to a total of 381 in their 50 overs. But England refused to buckle, scoring 366 in a highly entertaining chase.

    BUMRAH’S EPIC FINAL OVER

    In the second T20I, it looked like England had all but sealed the T20 leg of the tour. They needed only 32 runs in the last four overs with seven wickets in hand, with both Ben Stokes and Joe Root batting well.

    Then Jasprit Bumrah decided to show what makes him India’s most prized bowler when it comes to limited overs cricket, conceding just five runs in the last 12 balls.

    When England needed eight runs off the final over, Bumrah bowled a phenomenal over, picking up two wickets and giving away just two runs.

    Bumrah is mobbed by teammates after the brilliant final over.

    Bumrah is mobbed by teammates after a brilliant final over.

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