Ravichandran Ashwin
Ravichandran Ashwin celebrates with his teammates [Image Credit: Twitter]

Indian National Cricket Team won the second Test match against England in Chennai by 317 runs and drew level in the four-match Test series, after losing the first Test by 227 runs. With this victory, the Indian team also moved to the second spot in the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) table with 69.7 percentage points, while England moved to the 4th spot with 67 percentage points.

Set 482 runs to win, England was never in the chase, as they had more than 2 days to bat out if they wanted to earn a draw, an impossible probability. Moeen Ali top-scored with 43 runs, while captain Joe Root made 33 runs, while Rory Burns and Dan Lawrence made scores in the twenties.

For India, Akshar Patel picked a fifer on debut, ending with figures of 5/60, while Ravichandran Ashwin picked 3 more wickets to end with 8 wickets in the match. Kuldeep Yadav, playing his first Test match in 2 years, picked two wickets as well, as India wrapped up the Test in 3 days.

Akshar Patel
Akshar Patel. Credits: BCCI

India Goes To No.2 Spot In The World Test Championship Table

With New Zealand already sitting pretty at the top of the ICC World Test Championship table with 70 percentage points, it is a battle between India and England to earn a chance to play the Black Caps in the final of the WTC at Lord’s in June. India needs to win the four-match series 2-1 or 3-1, while England needs to win it 3-1. Australia also has an outside chance, if the series ends in a draw, or England wins 2-1.

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However, as of now, India moved to the no.2 spot with 69.7 percentage points, while England slipped down to the 4th spot with 67 percentage points. Australia is at third spot with 69.2 percentage points.

Ravichandran Ashwin celebrates his 5th Test century BCCI
Ravichandran Ashwin celebrates his 5th Test century Credits: BCCI

The match belonged to Ravichandran Ashwin as he picked 5/43 in England’s first innings, routing them for 134 runs, earning India an important lead of 195 runs. He then proceeded to hit a fine century, his 5th in Test cricket and first against England and first at his home ground in Chennai.

Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant, and Ajinkya Rahane also contributed with the bat in the match. However, Rishabh Pant’s wicketkeeping was also praiseworthy given that he kept on a square turning pitch and did a good job.

The next Test will be a day-night affair and will be played at the New Sardar Patel Stadium in Motera, Ahmedabad, from February 24 onwards.

Also Read: India vs England 2021: Indian Team Will Value Ajinkya Rahane’s Knock In The Second Test A Lot – Dinesh Karthik 

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