IND vs ENG 2021: 3 defining moments of India's historic win in the Lord's Test
This is a win that will live in Indian fans' hearts for a long, long time. Riding on the back of a complete team performance, Virat Kohli's men breached Fortress Lord's once again, after the country's historic win at the venue under MS Dhoni back in 2014.
The opening-day partnership between KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma seems like it was years ago, indicating just how much action transpired over five full days of top-notch Test cricket at Lord's. As we begin a nine-day wait for further action in the five-match India-England series, we take a look at the three defining moments of the visitors' memorable win.
Honorable Mentions: KL Rahul's century celebration on Day 1, Jasprit Bumrah's dismissals of Joe Root and Ollie Robinson
#3 Mohammed Shami raises his helmet in front of a supportive Lord's crowd
It's sometimes frowned upon to celebrate a fifty by removing and raising the helmet, because Test batsmen are generally judged upon how many three-figure scores they make. But when Mohammed Shami celebrated his second Test fifty by raising his helmet to the applauding crowd at Lord's, everyone was on board.
Shami, who has often been considered a lower-order brute with little by way of technique, showed a different side to his game in the second innings of the second Test. When he came to the crease at the fall of Ravindra Jadeja's wicket, India needed something miraculous from their pacers to reach a total that would save them from the possibility of defeat.
Shami had been demoted in the batting order after a soft dismissal in the first innings, for which he came under criticism for not valuing his wicket. And he seemed to have taken the complaints to heart, because he was more than happy to rotate strike and put away only the bad balls.
Shami was aided by some poor strategies from England, but he played like a pure batsman. Once India's lead had swelled enough, he unleashed a few trademark mows over mid-wicket to bring up a memorable landmark.
#2 Mohammed Siraj executes India's Jimmy Anderson set-up to perfection
The winning moment of the Lord's Test, which came in the final hour of Day 5, is obviously going to be defining. But the context behind Mohammed Siraj's scalp of Jimmy Anderson was what made it the glorious moment it was.
Anderson had been involved in a lot of verbal warfare with the Indian team. He had been rattled by Jasprit Bumrah in the first innings as the Indian spearhead unleashed a barrage of bouncers and yorkers to soften him up for Shami to castle. England's leading Test wicket-taker had also been sledged by Virat Kohli when the Indian skipper was batting.
So when Anderson finally came into bat needing to survive around nine overs, he was under the pump. Kohli implied that bouncers would be bowled even before Anderson arrived at the crease, and when he did, he was clearly not in the right frame of mind.
As Anderson hung back in anticipation of the short ball and somehow negotiated two deliveries, Siraj switched to around the wicket and sent down a peach. Anderson had to play at the ball, which moved ever so slightly away to hit the top of off.
It was a magical moment, one that had been carefully set up over days of Test cricket.
#1 Jasprit Bumrah refuses a single after being hit on the helmet by Mark Wood
When Jasprit Bumrah came to bat in the second innings as the No. 10 batsman, it was clear that England had revenge on their minds. Having seen red after Jimmy Anderson was targeted by the Indian pacer, the hosts pushed all their fielders back to the boundary and tried to attack the batsmen with chin music of their own.
Mark Wood, who injured his shoulder while fielding on Day 4, was the only member of the England pace attack who had the raw pace to ask questions of Bumrah. Wood steamed in and almost immediately rattled Bumrah, who was up to the task of counter-attacking even though he made a lot of ungainly movements while at the crease.
Eventually, Wood got one bang on the money and pinged Bumrah's helmet with a snorter. The ball ricocheted off Bumrah's helmet to the third-man boundary, where the fielder collected it and threw it back to the keeper.
But Bumrah refused Shami's attempts at a single. Whether he was in his senses after being hit on the helmet still isn't clear, but he did. A clear message was sent by that small act of defiance - Bumrah wouldn't back down, and neither would the Indian team.