NEW DELHI: Star pacer Jasprit Bumrah showcased a spectacular show by claiming a match haul of nine wickets to lead India's 106-run win over England in the second Test on Monday and level the five-match series.
Chasing a mammoth 399-run target for victory, England, who won the opening Test by 28 runs in Hyderabad, succumbed to a total of 292 in the second session on day four in Visakhapatnam.
For tourists, Zak Crawley was the highest scorer with a resilient 73.
Bumrah and spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, who ended the second Test with 499 Test wickets, claimed three wickets apiece in the final innings.
Bumrah castled Tom Hartley to seal the deal for India.
After India trounced England, captain Rohit Sharma lauded Bumrah and called him a 'champion bowler'.
"He is a champion player for us (Bumrah). When you win a game like that, you have to look at the overall performance as well. We were good with the bat. You know winning a Test in these conditions is not easy. Wanted our bowlers to step up and they did that," Rohit said.
1/10:2nd Test: India beat England to level series
Reuters
2/10:Jasprit Bumrah
<p>Fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah took a match haul of nine wickets to lead India's 106-run win over England in the second Test on Monday and level the five-match series. </p>Reuters
3/10:Zak Crawley
<p>Chasing a record 399 for victory, England were bowled for 292 in the second session on day four in Visakhapatnam, despite an attacking start and Zak Crawley's 73. </p>Getty Images
4/10:3 wickets each
<p>Bumrah and spinner Ravichandran Ashwin took three each in the final innings and the pace spearhead bowled Tom Hartley to complete the win. </p>IANS
5/10:Shubman Gill
<p>Shubman Gill set up the comeback victory for India with his 104 on day three to set England, who won the opener, a daunting target. </p>IANS
6/10:Bazball
<p>England came out swinging with their "Bazball" brand of cricket, Crawley and company hitting boundaries despite losing wickets. </p>AFP
7/10:Axar Patel
<p>Left-arm spinner Axar Patel broke through when he trapped Rehan Ahmed lbw for 23, after the nightwatchman hit five fours in his 31-ball knock. </p>ANI
8/10:Ravichandran Ashwin
<p>Ollie Pope hammered five boundaries in his brief stay at the wicket, before Ashwin had him caught at slip by captain Rohit Sharma on 23. </p>ANI
9/10:Joe Root
<p>Joe Root fell for 16 while attempting a slog off Ashwin, who remains one away from entering the 500-wicket club. </p>PTI
10/10:Kuldeep Yadav
<p>The chase soon lost steam with two wickets in five balls before lunch, including Crawley out lbw off left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav. </p>PTIBumrah was adjudged Man of the Match.
"He (Bumrah) looks like a good player, understands his game really well. Long way to go for him, has got a lot to offer for our team. Hope he stays humble," he said.
There were eight players in the starting line-up with a collective experience of only 68 Tests, five of them with match count that was not even in double digits.
No wonder skipper Rohit was proud of his inexperienced bunch pulling off an impressive 106-run victory, where the hosts didn't have the luxury of banking on the seasoned trio of Virat Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja, and KL Rahul.
"Wickets was really good to bat on. If I have to point anything, lot of the batters got starts but couldn't get big score. But I understand they're young and new to the game. Important for us to give them confidence," Rohit said.
"Very proud of such a young squad to come up against a team like that. Lot of the guys are quite young in terms of playing this form of the game. It'll take some time to be absolutely spot on. Want them to play freely without any pressure. Last couple of years England have been playing good cricket. Knew it wasn't going to be an easy series. Three more to go. We'll keep our check on it and make sure we do most things right," the Indian captain said.
The third Test starts February 15 in Rajkot.
