England vs India 2018: 5 things that India did differently to win at Trent Bridge
The Indian cricket team bounced back in style with a convincing 203 run win over hosts England in the 3rd test at Trent Bridge after going 2-0 down in the Series. The Indian team, put into bat by England skipper Joe Root, piled on 329 runs in their first innings, aided by a gutsy 97 from skipper Virat Kohli and a counter-attacking 81 by Ajinkya Rahane.
England in reply was bundled out for a mere 161 courtesy of a brilliant spell of swing bowling from Hardik Pandya which saw him end up with figures of 5/28 from his 6 overs.
A second innings century from Virat Kohli (103) supported at the other end by twin fifties from Cheteshwar Pujara(72) and Hardik Pandya(52*) saw India register 352/7 with a massive lead of 520 on board.
England showed great courage and fight to take the game to the fifth day before being bundled out for 317.
Let us take a look into the five things that India did differently in the third test against England at Trent Bridge to ensure a win this time around:
#5 Positive intent shown by Indian openers
Indian openers have failed miserably to provide the team with a good start in the first two test matches against England.
The loss of quick wickets at the top of the order has been letting the visiting team down ever since the South Africa tour earlier in the year.
Murali Vijay, despite being one of India’s best batsman when India toured England back in 2014 has looked completely out of sorts in the opening two test matches which saw him getting dropped for the third test at Trent Bridge.
Shikhar Dhawan and KL Rahul, who was included in the playing XI ahead of Vijay showed great character and determination facing the new ball against the likes of James Anderson and Stuart Broad.
The duo batted beautifully in both the innings, leaving well outside the off stump and putting the bad balls away to the fence, giving the visitors a solid foundation to build upon.