India beat England by 150 runs in the fifth and final T20I of the five-match series at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Sunday, February 2. India, who were already leading the series 3-1, ended up pocketing the series by a handsome 4-1 margin, with the aberration of an English victory in the third T20I.
Abhishek Sharma stole the show for the hosts with a 54-ball 135, while Mohammed Shami picked up three wickets during England's innings to bowl them out for a measly 97 in just 10.3 overs. India were the more dominating side in this series and deserved to win it by a comfortable margin.
A lot of experts observed India's superiority over England in this series and lauded their domineering performance. In this listicle, we take a look at the top five reactions by experts to India's series win.
#5 Sanjay Manjrekar
Former India batter Sanjay Manjrekar mentioned that this current Indian generation is not finding it difficult to bat in a carefree manner since they all think similarly, and do not have to go out of their comfort zones.
Manjrekar also noticed the importance the spinners had in the series, with the Indian trio of Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, and Varun Chakravarthy taking the game away from their opponents repeatedly.
"India have enough batting depth, and today (Sunday), it was relentless when I saw Rinku Singh coming in after Shivam Dube. The new generation thinks more like this, so it is going to continue, and they are not playing outside their comfort zones. The big plus has been the form of the spinners - Varun Chakravarthy, Axar Patel and Ravi Bishnoi. The latter Let us not forget the first part of the series when the spinners were getting India in great shape to win matches," Manjrekar said on ESPNCricinfo.
#4 Aakash Chopra
Former India opener Aakash Chopra took to his YouTube channel to praise spinner Varun Chakravarthy after India wrapped the series up 4-1.
Chakravarthy was awarded the Player of the Series accolade after picking up 14 wickets in five matches at 9.86. The mystery leg-spinner took 2-25 in Mumbai and assisted Shami in dismantling the English batting unit.
"In bowling, you can't look beyond Varun Chakravarthy. The job he has done in this entire series, whenever he rolled his arm over, he picked up wickets. The rise and rise of Varun Chakaravarthy is a testament that the guy has the might because comebacks are difficult," said Chopra.
"Secondly, it shows the might of the IPL. We deride it at times, a lot of people say that things went bad because of the IPL, but you would have forgotten Varun Chakaravarthy if not for the IPL. So, him playing continuously in the IPL, performing well there, improving himself, and then getting a chance here (in the T20Is), you feel at home because the pressure is almost similar," he added.
#3 Piyush Chawla
India spinner Piyush Chawla spoke to Star Sports after the fifth T20I and lauded the home team's slow bowlers for getting the job done in the series. He lavished praise on the team for beating England 4-1.
Chawla made an uncanny observation when he said that the story of the series had been such that England's batters got out whenever the Indian spinners had come on.
"This happens quite often if the opposition team scores nearly 250 runs in a T20 game, you either see the team reaching 200-225 or they get out for 100-120, and that's what we got to see today (Sunday). However, the story of this series has been that whenever spin has come, England have gotten out," Chawla said.
"Today also they started well, it was a destructive start, but after that wickets kept falling continuously. Shivam Dube came and put to rest all the questions people had raised about the concussion substitute because he too bowled like that and picked up two wickets," he added.
#2 Michael Vaughan
Former England captain Michael Vaughan spoke to Cricbuzz after the fifth T20I and lauded the Indian side for the depth they have in their armory.
While chiding England for not batting up to their usual standards, Vaughan said that despite India's top two batters Suryakumar Yadav and Sanju Samson not being in good form, the home team continued to dominate.
"India have won the series 4-1 without being the best. In the fifth match, yes, they were the best, but in the rest of the matches, England were a little clumsy with the bat. Suryakumar Yadav is among the top bracket of batters today, and he has done nothing, really. Sanju Samson got found out a little bit against the short ball. Still, fundamentally, the skillset this Indian T20 side has is magnificent; they have got everything covered," said Vaughan.
#1 Zaheer Khan
Former India pacer Zaheer Khan mentioned on Cricbuzz that India can try experimenting with their bowling combinations a bit in the future.
Khan said that India's batting could also do with a bit of fine-tuning, with skipper Suryakumar Yadav hoping to be back among the runs. If these small changes could be implemented, India would become a top side, Khan felt.
"They can be brave enough to try different combinations, especially regarding bowling. The batting needs a bit of fine-tuning - skipper Suryakumar Yadav needs to be back in the runs. Despite not playing the best cricket, India have managed to do well in this series, but they can work on fine-tuning the small things, going forward. With the ball, they (India) have been just brilliant," said Khan.
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