In a resounding display of sheer skill and dominance at home, Team India, under the captaincy of Rohit Sharma, scored a monumental victory that will be remembered for a long time as they doubled their lead in the five-match Test series against England . The stage was set at Rajkot’s illustrious Niranjan Shah Stadium, where the hosts unleashed a dominant performance that left England reeling and claimed their biggest Test match victory by 434 runs.
England’s chase of a mammoth target of 557 runs was quickly snuffed out by the relentless assault of the Indian bowlers. With precision and cunning, they dismantled the English batting line-up, leaving it in ruins with just 122 runs on the board. It was a great result for the Indian bowling attack, led by Ravindra Jadeja from the front, as he took an excellent 5-wicket haul after scoring 112 in the first innings. India’s strategy made England struggle in the match.
The foundation of India’s victory was laid by their splendid batting performances in all the innings. Setting the imposing total was no easy task, but the likes of Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rohit Sharma, Sarfaraz Khan and Ravindra Jadeja rose to the occasion, setting a towering mountain for England to climb.
Rohit and Jadeja scored 132 and 112 respectively while Yashasvi Jaiswal scored a splendid double century with Sarfaraz Khan scoring consecutive half-centuries in innings to become the fourth Indian batsman to do so after Dilawar Hussain, Sunil Gavaskar and Shreyas Iyer.
With back-to-back wins in Vizag and Rajkot, Team India now has a 2-1 lead in the series, along with positive momentum after a setback in the opening Test in Hyderabad. Meanwhile, Ben Stokes’ England find themselves in troubled waters, grappling with the difficult task of dethroning India’s dominance at home in red-ball matches since 2012.
As the series unfolds, England face an uphill battle to match the feat of the 2012 England team under the captaincy of Alastair Cook, who secured a 2-1 victory in the 4-match series. However, with standout performances from players like Jaiswal, Sharma, Khan and Jadeja, Team India is set to extend its dominance and rewrite the narrative of cricket’s supremacy on the big stage.
Biggest win by run margin for India, replacing their 372 runs against New Zealand in 2021
The importance of this victory cannot be underestimated as India scored a staggering victory by 434 runs, marking their largest margin of victory not only against England but in their cricketing history in general. This win eclipsed their previous record, a 372-run victory over Kane Williamson’s New Zealand at the Wankhede in Mumbai in 2021.
India’s third biggest win came in 2015 against South Africa at the Arun Jaitley Stadium when they won by 337 runs. The fourth such victory is the 321-run win over the Kiwis in 2016 and Indore’s Holkar Stadium, while the fifth-highest win for them was against Australia in 2008 by 320 runs. India will now move up to second place in the 2023-25 World Test Championship cycle with this win.
Biggest Test defeats for England by runs 562 vs Aus The Oval 1934434 vs Ind Rajkot 2024425 vs WI Manchester 1976409 vs Aus Lord’s 1948405 vs Aus Lord’s 2015
Highest Test wins for India by runs 434 vs Eng Rajkot 2024372 vs NZ Mumbai WS 2021337 vs SA Delhi 2015321 vs NZ Indore 2016320 vs Aus Mohali 2008
