Friday 27 July 2018 12:38, UK
India's fortunes nose-dived after a heady Lord's victory in 2014 as England stormed back to secure a 3-1 series victory.
Ahead of this summer's five-Test series - which starts on Sky Sports Cricket on Wednesday - we look back at the story of a remarkable turnaround…
An enthralling series began somewhat turgidly on a flat pitch that offered little throughout the five days - the sight of Alastair Cook claiming the wicket of Ishant Sharma while impersonating Bob Willis on the final day rather summing up how the game drifted.
The Test did flicker occasionally as Murali Vijay (156) and Joe Root had traded tons (154) - England's number five rescuing England from 202-7 with more than a little help from Stuart Broad (47) and last man James Anderson, who struck a career-best 81. Together they earned England a lead of 39, the home side briefly harbouring hopes of victory when India slipped to 184-6 second time around.
Three quick wickets early on the final day tested the tourists' resolve but it held firm as Bhuvneshwar Kumar struck his second fifty of the match in support of Stuart Binny's top-score of 78.
What they said - Alastair Cook: "We threw everything into today but when they got above 250-260 you felt we weren't going to win. We had a sniff when they were only 200 ahead but the wicket won. It was an extraordinary moment for me to have more Test wickets than [bowling coach] David Saker. A few people aren't talking to me."
India claimed only their second win at Lord's in 17 visits as Ishant Sharma claimed career-best figures of 7-74 to bundle the home side out for 223, having been set a target of 319. The result ended India's three-year wait for a Test win overseas, a run that included a 4-0 defeat in England in 2011, and heaped more pressure on under-fire England skipper Alastair Cook.
England once again earned a slender first-innings lead as Gary Ballance's 110 outweighed 103 from Ajinka Rahane and India slipped a little further into trouble at 203-6 in their second innings before Ravindra Jadeja led a lower-order counter-attack with 68 off 57 balls.
England's victory chase appeared off the rails at 72-4 only for a fifth-wicket stand of 101 between Joe Root and Moeen Ali to revive home hopes. But Ishant bounced out Moeen on the stroke of lunch and then added the wickets of Matt Prior, Ben Stokes and Root early in the afternoon session - all via short balls - to settle the contest.
Wicketkeeper Prior subsequently withdrew from the rest of the series due to an ongoing Achilles problem and the Sussex player, also hampered by injuries to a right quad and right hand, was not to be seen on the Test stage again.
What they said - MS Dhoni: "It is a very memorable Test match for all of us. I feel the approach was fantastic - what was important was that individuals rose to the occasion. We learned from the 2011 series that it is very important to stay in the game until the end of the third day.
"What that does is it brings our spinners into action. They can give the bowlers ample rest, and at the same time get us a few wickets. Looking at this series, in the two games we've played, we've been able to do that."
What they said - Andrew Strauss: "Cook faces an unbelievably monumental task and it is hard to think of a more difficult situation that any England captain has faced than the one he is in at the moment."
"He now needs to get a little bit angry as a captain and say to his senior players: 'You've earned the right to be in this team because of your performances but you are not performing at the moment and I need you to stand up and do something'."
England ended a run of 10 Tests without a victory after Alastair Cook proved his mettle with a first-innings 95. The captain received two ovations from a supportive crowd - one on reaching 50 and again after falling just short of his first Test century in 27 attempts after being dropped on 15 by Ravindra Jadeja.
It wasn't the highest innings of the match - Ian Bell (167) and Gary Ballance (156) propelling England to an imposing total - but it did elevate Cook past David Gower into third spot in England's all-time run-scoring charts and reaffirm his position as leader.
Debutant Jos Buttler, in for Matt Prior, smashed 85 off 83 balls prior to the declaration before James Anderson (5-53) and Stuart Broad (3-66) got to work. Virat Kohli's 39 would prove to be his highest score in a series in which he averaged just 13.40. Cook (70no) consolidated England's position second time around - India's pursuit of a target of 445 quickly unravelling against Moeen Ali, who finished with career-best figures of 6-67.
What they said - Nasser Hussain: "The pressure Cook has been under for quite a long time, both with his own game and with England losing, is absolutely immense, so it was great mental strength to produce that innings. It helped him today that he didn't have any of the burdens of captaincy - field settings, last-wicket partnerships - all he had to do today was toss the coin, say 'we'll bat' and go out there."
India crumbled to lose all of their 20 wickets inside 90 overs as rampant England surged into a series lead. The tourists imploded on the first morning, slipping to 8-4 before a battling 71 from MS Dhoni and 40 from Ravichandran Ashwin regained a little respectability.
England rammed home their advantage as Ian Bell (58), Joe Root (77) and Jos Buttler (70) passed fifty - their first innings ending when Stuart Broad retired hurt after suffering a broken nose by a bouncer from paceman Varun Aaron that went straight through the grille of his helmet.
Dhoni was forced again to call for the shovel after India, following on, slipped from 53-1 to 66-6 but the skipper couldn't get his side out of a hole as Moeen Ali and James Anderson finished with figures of 4-39 and 2-18 respectively - Ravichandran Ashwin finishing unbeaten on 40.
What they said - Nasser Hussain: "It really is a phenomenal turnaround from England - I think they've lost half a session in the last eight days of international cricket. That's brilliant from Cook and his boys. They've won inside three days - and we lost a couple of sessions yesterday; so they've won in two-and-a-half days on a pretty good surface.
"India can't argue 'we didn't do very well first up' - England can now say we bowled you out when it was doing something and we've bowled you out when it's flat."
The rot proved irreversible, nibbling away at India's confidence to such an extent that the tourists' second innings failed to last even two sessions as they slumped to 94 all out to lose the series 3-1. Dhoni (82) played another lone hand in the first dig - the captain the only player to pass 20 as England's seamers shared the wickets.
The home side raced into a first-innings lead of 338 after solid contributions from Alastair Cook (79) and Gary Ballance (64), piling on 101 runs early on the third morning in just 11.3 overs against a lacklustre India attack.
The hugely impressive Joe Root finished unbeaten on 149 from just 165 balls after completing his fifth Test century shortly after the resumption having been given a reprieve on 110 - he and Jos Buttler (45) took advantage of a tiring Indian attack.
Moeen Ali - who impressed with 19 wickets in the series - wasn't even required in the second innings and went wicket-less in the Test as Chris Jordan (4-18) deepened the in-roads made by James Anderson (2-16). India's last eight wickets fell for 64 runs in just 17 overs, steamrollered by England's juggernaut attack.
What they said - Ian Botham: "I haven't seen a side collapse as consistently as India have done in the last three Tests. I know that a few of the Indian commentators have got their heads buried in their jackets - they are horrified by what they've just witnessed. England have wrecked them. Some of their players came from India with big reputations and they've gone home in tatters."
Watch every ball of England's five-Test series against India live on Sky Sports Cricket from 10am on Wednesday, August 1.
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