India jumps to No.2 in WTC points table after 106 runs victory against England in 2nd Test

India bounced back in style to thump England by 106 runs in the second Test match at Visakhapatnam, tying the five-match series 1-1. This win came after a shaky start for India, who had lost the first Test from a commanding position and suffered blows with key players KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja unavailable from the 2nd test due to injury.

After losing the first match by 28 runs, India faltered to the 5th spot in the World Test Championship points table but the comeback victory against England in the 2nd test brought them back again at the 2nd spot after Australia with 52.77 points. The fight among the top five teams in the WTC points table remains highly competitive as the gap between these teams is only of mere 5% in points percentage.

Jaiswal and Bumrah were the key contributors to India’s win

Yashasvi Jaiswal and Jasprit Bumrah were the stars for India in the 2nd test match while Shubman Gill also played a scintillating ton thus playing a major role in the victory. While chasing a huge target of 399 runs in the 4th innings, India was being considered the favourite to win the match but England showed a good fight with gritty knocks from Zak Crawley, Ben Foakes, and Tom Hartley.

Commencing the day at 67 for 1, the left-arm spinner Axar Patel claimed the wicket of Rehan Ahmed, England's nightwatchman, who managed a quick 23 runs. Subsequently, Ashwin created turmoil in England's batting order, dismissing Ollie Pope and Joe Root in consecutive overs. 

Pope, scoring 23, edged Ashwin's delivery to Rohit Sharma at slip, while Root, nursing a finger injury, attempted a shot against Ashwin, resulting in a top-edge caught by Patel at backward point. Though Foakes and Hartley showed some resistance towards the end eventually Bumrah and Mukesh Kumar wrapped up things for India and levelled the series by 1-1. The third match of the series will be played in Rajkot on February 15.