England visited India for 4 tests, 5 T20I, and 3 ODI in the month of Feb 2021. The tournament between the two nations started with the test series. The first test match of the India vs England 2021 series was played at MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai from Feb 05-Feb 09 2021.
The first test of the series was the 100th test match of English captain Joe Root and the 50th test of Jos Buttler. The England captain won the toss and went for bat first. In the first inning, Root struck a double century in his 100th test and had put a big total of 578 runs on the scoreboard. India could make 337 runs in the first inning. Cheteshwar Pujara, Rishabh Pant, and Washington Sundar tried well and contributed 73, 91, and 85 runs.
England made 178 runs with 241 runs lead and set the target of 420 runs for India. Ravichandran Ashwin took 6 wickets in the second inning. India got the target of 420 runs but Indian batsmen could not handle the pace of Jack Leach and James Anderson and bowled out at 192 runs. Jack Leach took 4 and Anderson got 3 wickets in the second inning. England won the first test by 227 runs and led the 4 test series by 1-0 and Joe Root was named Man of the Match.
In the second test, India won the toss and had put a total of 329 runs on the scoreboard, Rohit Sharma played an awesome inning of 161 runs along with Rahane 67, Rishabh Pant unbeaten 58 runs. Moeen Ali took 4 and Olly Stone got 3 wickets. England started its first inning very poorly and lost wickets at regular intervals and the entire England squad bowled out at 134 runs only. In the second inning of India, Ravichandran Ashwin struck a century that helped the Indian team to score 286 runs and set the defending total of 481 runs. Moeen Ali and Jack Leach took 4 wickets. England needed 482 runs to win the 2nd test but they could make only 164 runs. Axar got 5 wickets and Ashwin took 3 wickets in the second inning. Thus, India won the 2nd test by 317 runs and level the series by 1-1 and Ravichandran Ashwin was the Man of the Match.
In the third test, England could not get a good start and the entire team bowled out at 112 runs only. Axar Patel again continued his form with the ball and took 6 wickets. India also did not do well in the first inning and the entire team was bowled out at 145 runs only. Joe Root got the 5 wickets and Jack Leach took 4 wickets. India got the lead of 33 runs in the first inning. England’s second inning started with the wicket and it was continued, the entire English team could make only 81 runs in the second inning. The Indian team got the small target of 49 runs to win the third test and they achieved it very comfortably in 7.4 overs. India won the 3rd test by 10 wickets and Axar Patel was named Man of the Match.
In the 4th test, England started the inning after winning the toss and could make only 205 runs on the scoreboard. Ben Stokes added some effort and scored 55 runs. Axar Patel again took 4 wickets in the first inning. The Indian team also did not get a good start and lost early wickets. Rishabh Pant and Washington Sundar handled the situation. Rishabh struck a century that helped India to put 365 runs on the scoreboard. Washington Sundar also made unbeaten 96 runs. India got the lead of 160 runs. England’s batsmen continued with their flop show in the second inning too and capitulated in front of Indian spinners and could make only 135 runs only. Both Axar and Ashwin took 5 wickets each in the second inning. India won the 4th test by 25 runs and an inning and also won the series by 3-1. Rishabh Pant was named Man of the Match.
Joe Root was the top scorer of the series with 368 runs and Ravichandran Ashwin was the highest wicket taker with 32 wickets in Ind vs Eng series 2021. Ravichandran Ashwin was named Man of the Series.