RANCHI, India, Feb 26 (AFP): Shubman Gill and Dhruv Jurel guided India to a series-clinching five-wicket win over England on day four of the fourth Test on Monday.
Chasing 192 for victory, India slipped to 120-5 but Gill (52) and Jurel (39) put on an unbeaten stand of 72 to achieve the target during the second session in Ranchi.
The win gave India an unassailable 3-1 lead in the five-match series after they lost the first Test.
"It's been a very hard-fought series, so to come on the right side of it feels very good," India's skipper Rohit Sharma said.
"A lot of challenges were thrown at us, but we responded."
It was the first series defeat for captain Ben Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum since they took charge in 2022 and changed England's fortunes with their attacking philosophy dubbed "Bazball".
"It was a great Test match, the scoreboard doesn't give enough credit to the game as a whole, the ebbs and flows," Stokes said, adding that he "couldn't be more proud" of his spin bowlers.
Gill played the anchor in his 124-ball knock as he and Jurel, who made 90 in India's first innings, staved off a mini-crisis when Shoaib Bashir took two wickets in two balls soon after lunch. India still needed 72 more but Gill and Jurel rotated the strike coolly to pick off singles before the former raised his fifty with two successive sixes off Bashir.
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