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LONDONEnglands rise above India to the top of test crickets world rankings was as remarkable as it was comprehensive.
The predictions of a close, hard-fought four-match series that accompanied the arrival of Indias superstar cricketers last month proved woefully inaccurate as England dominated in all areas to wrap up a 4-0 win.
England scored 2,809 runs to Indias 2,044 in two fewer innings, took 80 wickets to Indias 47 and twice won by an innings to rout a team unbeaten in its previous 11 series.
Mondays innings victory at The Oval was Englands seventh in 13 tests and completed a ninth unbeaten series.
Youre getting really strong performances from all 11 players, England captain Andrew Strauss said. Its been up there with the best series weve played as a group.
Weve had a lot of victories over the last couple of years and we expect to win matches now.
And thats what England has gotten very, very good at.
In a little over two years since a dismal series defeat in the West Indies, England has won and retained the Ashes, taken top spot in the rankings and, with Mondays victory, won as many test matches as it managed in the whole of the 1980s.
England were determined to be No. 1 and through careful planning and a series of clinical performances, they have deservedly achieved their goal, International Cricket Council chief executive Haroon Lorgat said. They were clearly the most consistent side in the world over the past few years as evidenced by their determination to complete their series victory here at The Oval.
Dead rubber matches are notoriously difficult to get motivated for once a team has wrapped up victory, but coach Andy Flower stressed the importance of maintaining momentum.
Despite the loss of four whole sessions to rain, England reached 591-6 by tea on the third day of the fourth test and declared to set India a tricky target.
Rahul Dravid scored his third series hundred three more than any of his teammates and became only the third India batsman to carry his bat, but the tourists still had to follow-on despite a tour-high total of 300.
England are deservedly the No. 1 in the world, they played well in the series, they outplayed us, Dravid said. We expected a tough series as we know they have played some great cricket over the past 2 ½ years.
But we thought we would play a bit better.
After Ian Bell starred with the bat with a sparkling 235, Englands bowlers took over. Despite long spells without success, they kept at it and spinner Graeme Swann took 6-106 after a frustrating summer dominated by the seam bowlers.
This has been a real team effort and everyone of the players, management and back up staff deserve great credit, Strauss said. Becoming No. 1 in the world was our stated ambition 2 ½ years ago and even though we have achieved that objective we will continue to look to build on this success.
England set the tone for the series on day one of the first test at Lords, showing India that capitulation was never in the cards.
England lost the toss and slipped to 62-2 with both openers back in the pavilion, but Kevin Pietersen hit 202 not out to rally his teammates. England was then 124-8 in the first innings of the second test at Trent Bridge but recovered to a respectable 221. A first-innings deficit was swiftly overturned with 544 in the second before Tim Bresnan took a test-best 5-48.
Edgbaston was the most one-sided match of the series, with James Andersons eight wickets and Alastair Cooks 294 setting up a victory by an innings and 242 runs.
Englands domination was such that all-rounder Stuart Broad only batted in half the matches.
Ive not batted for two test matches, its been a pleasure, Broad said. Ive read a few books and put my feet up.
Englands named man-of-the-series with a haul of 25 wickets and 182 runs, Broad survived calls from commentators for him to be dropped after a disappointing series against Sri Lanka to form a crucial new-ball partnership with Anderson.
Andersons mastery of both in and out swing brought him 21 wickets, while he continually offered tips and suggestions to his fellow bowlers. And Bresnan denied Sachin Tendulkar his 100th international hundred on the final day at The Oval, trapping the India great lbw for 91 to finish with 16 series wickets.
The teams now play a one-day series during which Tendulkar may yet get his 100th hundred, but England does not play test cricket again until next year.
India, meanwhile, has problems to address before its tour of Australia starts in December.
The players looked exhausted after a long season in which they won the one-day World Cup as host, played Indian Premier League Twenty20 and then toured the Caribbean. They were sluggish and sloppy in the field, lacked penetration with the ball without the injured Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh, and only Dravid performed with the bat.
Dravid became the first player ever to score three centuries for a team that lost every test in a series, while Pietersen and Bell scored 264 more between them than Tendulkar, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, VVS Laxman, Virender Sehwag and Gautim Gambhir combined.
Its important we stay together as a unit because the expectation levels are quite high, Dhoni said. Its about the team rising to the occasion together.
Thats the way ahead.
England rises to No. 1 in world cricket - thestar.com
