A spineless India today tamely surrendered their number one status to a ruthless England as they slumped to an innings and 242—runs defeat to allow the hosts clinch the completely lop—sided four—match series by taking a 3—0 lead here.
India's nearly 20 months reign as the number one ranked Test team could not have ended in a more shambolic manner as they folded up for a paltry 244 in the second innings with an entire day to spare in what has turned out to be one of their worst overseas tours in recent history.
After conceding a mammoth first innings lead 486, the Indians had to bat out of their skins to save the game but the famed batting line -- up fell like a pack of cards yet again to give the hosts their second successive victory within four days.
James Anderson was the pick of the English bowlers as he ripped through the top order to finish with figures of four for 85 while Stuart Broad (2/28) and Graeme Swann (2/88) chipped in to provide the finishing touches to the emphatic victory.
The worst defeat for India till now is by an innings and 336 runs against the West Indies in Kolkata in 1958 and the hapless visitors managed to avoid that ignominy.
Gasping at 130 for seven at one stage, captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni (74 not out) and Praveen Kumar (40 off 18 balls) unleashed some lusty strokes during their 75 -- run eighth -- wicket partnership to provide some entertainment and delay the inevitable.
Sachin Tendulkar (40) was the only other batsman who managed to score some runs in the second innings before being tragically run our while most of the others played poorly on an Edgbaston track which certainly was not unplayable.
What had been billed as a high -- profile series between two top teams has been reduced to a complete mismatch with the Indians being made to look like pushovers.
England will now look for series clean sweep when they travel to London for the fourth Test beginning at the Oval from August 18.
India had ascended to the top of the Test ranking table in December 2009 after beating Sri Lanka 2 -- 0 in the three -- match series at home.
After that, India drew the series against South Africa and Sri Lanka. Then they beat Australia 2 -- 0 in October 2010, following it with another drawn series in South Africa.
But their inexplicably shoddy and listless performance against England has come as a big let -- down, marking the first Test series defeat for captain Dhoni.
India, who resumed at their overnight score of 35 for 1, came off the wheels in no time and all the talk of a better resistance from the visitors in the second innings proved to be no better than rhetoric.
This is only the second time in last 11 years when India has lost or been down in a series by 3 -- 0 margin. Sachin Tendulkar's men had a similar unworthy distinction on the tour to Australia in 1999 -- 2000 series.
India lost five wickets in the first session and the final four in the 90 minutes from the afternoon session.
The overnight batsmen Gautam Gambhir (14) and Rahul Dravid (18) failed to add a single run to their totals. Both fell to James Anderson who also claimed VVS Laxman (2) to snuff the fight out of the visitors.
Graeme Swann had a hand in the other two dismissals -- -- claiming Suresh Raina (10) out leg before wicket and touching a back -- drive on to the non -- striker's end which found Sachin Tendulkar (40) out of his crease.
Post-match reactions from Dhoni, Strauss, Cook and Kevin Pietersen
Pietersen: It is a nice feeling. The rankings get re-arranged after the series ends and we are one win away from a 4-0 win. We have nowhere else to go but downhill from here. We do not want to go down that path. We have some very hard Test cricket coming up in the near future. India have missed Zaheer. He is a phenomenal bowler but at the end of the day, people should be talking about how good this England team is. We need to be grounded and maintain consistency. Cook played a phenomenal knock. Our bowling attack is really good. We concentrate really well on ourselves and as Strauss stated that if we improve, we could win by big margins.
More from Dhoni: A defeat is a defeat. We did not play to our potential. We played at only 60 or 65% of what we are capable of. We need to restrict the opposition from scoring freely but we did not do that. Almost in every over we conceded a boundary. That meant we had to bat for two days and that was always going to be difficult. We have no control of injuries. Rather than cribbing about injuries we have to see if the youngsters made the most of their opportunities that they got because that will help in the long run. Dravid was really confused. It hit the lace. Something really strange. Dravid did not think he nicked it and it did not hit his boot. If you are not 100% sure you have to take the UDRS but it was really strange, the bat hitting the lace at just the time the ball passed by. We were not able to keep the good deliveries out. You need to score when the ball is on your side and we have not able to do that consistently. Most of the bowlers played in West Indies, both Tests and ODIs, hopefully our batting line up will click at The Oval.
Cook: The week off has made the difference. The hard yards done away has helped. In the first stage of my career I did not make big hundreds but in the recent times I have managed to do so. Our top three, we know that we have to lay a platform for our attacking batsmen down the order and we try to do so. To bowl out a side like India for less than 250 twice was a great effort.
Strauss: The toss was not a massive gamble. There was less in the wicket than we thought but we bowled really well. There is a lot of relentless pressure in our bowling. Not just in this game but throughout. It was very nice to get some runs for myself and then sit down and watch Cook bat for two days. The really great players make big runs and he shows that if you are in that bubble and stay there, there is nothing you can't achieve. It fills with me a lot of pride to stand here and know that we achieved something special as a group. We have not rested on our laurels in the last few years. The players have worked really hard and we should be proud of what they have done. There have been so many guys that have done well. Winning the Ashes in 2009 after losing in the West Indies was huge. Someone like Swann came in and the batsmen have grown in confidence too. Just for today we will enjoy what we have achieved.
Dhoni: First of all congrats to England for becoming the No.1 Test side. A loss is a loss. We have been going from bad to worse in the series. To win you have to be consistent and England have done it. Our batting and bowling has not clicked. No point really, pointing out anyone in particular. We are not the best fielding side in the world but we take pride in our bowling and batting. Our batting is a major area of concern. We have to see off the good balls and score of the bad ones. We have to do better in the next game. I'm still proud of the side I have and there is plenty of cricket left in the Indian side. We try to win each and every game but it is not really possible every time. It is a game of cat and mouse. Everyone wants to win and being No. 1 is not so important. The most important thing is to be consistent. We were the top side for quite some time. For us it is important to prepare well. We tried our best with whatever time we had before the series. It has been one of the series where nothing has clicked. We have experience to do well in the next game and we will be playing for pride.
After conceding a mammoth first innings lead 486, the Indians had to bat out of their skins to save the game but the famed batting line -- up fell like a pack of cards yet again to give the hosts their second successive victory within four days.
James Anderson was the pick of the English bowlers as he ripped through the top order to finish with figures of four for 85 while Stuart Broad (2/28) and Graeme Swann (2/88) chipped in to provide the finishing touches to the emphatic victory.
The worst defeat for India till now is by an innings and 336 runs against the West Indies in Kolkata in 1958 and the hapless visitors managed to avoid that ignominy.
Gasping at 130 for seven at one stage, captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni (74 not out) and Praveen Kumar (40 off 18 balls) unleashed some lusty strokes during their 75 -- run eighth -- wicket partnership to provide some entertainment and delay the inevitable.
Sachin Tendulkar (40) was the only other batsman who managed to score some runs in the second innings before being tragically run our while most of the others played poorly on an Edgbaston track which certainly was not unplayable.
What had been billed as a high -- profile series between two top teams has been reduced to a complete mismatch with the Indians being made to look like pushovers.
England will now look for series clean sweep when they travel to London for the fourth Test beginning at the Oval from August 18.
India had ascended to the top of the Test ranking table in December 2009 after beating Sri Lanka 2 -- 0 in the three -- match series at home.
After that, India drew the series against South Africa and Sri Lanka. Then they beat Australia 2 -- 0 in October 2010, following it with another drawn series in South Africa.
But their inexplicably shoddy and listless performance against England has come as a big let -- down, marking the first Test series defeat for captain Dhoni.
India, who resumed at their overnight score of 35 for 1, came off the wheels in no time and all the talk of a better resistance from the visitors in the second innings proved to be no better than rhetoric.
This is only the second time in last 11 years when India has lost or been down in a series by 3 -- 0 margin. Sachin Tendulkar's men had a similar unworthy distinction on the tour to Australia in 1999 -- 2000 series.
India lost five wickets in the first session and the final four in the 90 minutes from the afternoon session.
The overnight batsmen Gautam Gambhir (14) and Rahul Dravid (18) failed to add a single run to their totals. Both fell to James Anderson who also claimed VVS Laxman (2) to snuff the fight out of the visitors.
Graeme Swann had a hand in the other two dismissals -- -- claiming Suresh Raina (10) out leg before wicket and touching a back -- drive on to the non -- striker's end which found Sachin Tendulkar (40) out of his crease.
Post-match reactions from Dhoni, Strauss, Cook and Kevin Pietersen
Pietersen: It is a nice feeling. The rankings get re-arranged after the series ends and we are one win away from a 4-0 win. We have nowhere else to go but downhill from here. We do not want to go down that path. We have some very hard Test cricket coming up in the near future. India have missed Zaheer. He is a phenomenal bowler but at the end of the day, people should be talking about how good this England team is. We need to be grounded and maintain consistency. Cook played a phenomenal knock. Our bowling attack is really good. We concentrate really well on ourselves and as Strauss stated that if we improve, we could win by big margins.
More from Dhoni: A defeat is a defeat. We did not play to our potential. We played at only 60 or 65% of what we are capable of. We need to restrict the opposition from scoring freely but we did not do that. Almost in every over we conceded a boundary. That meant we had to bat for two days and that was always going to be difficult. We have no control of injuries. Rather than cribbing about injuries we have to see if the youngsters made the most of their opportunities that they got because that will help in the long run. Dravid was really confused. It hit the lace. Something really strange. Dravid did not think he nicked it and it did not hit his boot. If you are not 100% sure you have to take the UDRS but it was really strange, the bat hitting the lace at just the time the ball passed by. We were not able to keep the good deliveries out. You need to score when the ball is on your side and we have not able to do that consistently. Most of the bowlers played in West Indies, both Tests and ODIs, hopefully our batting line up will click at The Oval.
Cook: The week off has made the difference. The hard yards done away has helped. In the first stage of my career I did not make big hundreds but in the recent times I have managed to do so. Our top three, we know that we have to lay a platform for our attacking batsmen down the order and we try to do so. To bowl out a side like India for less than 250 twice was a great effort.
Strauss: The toss was not a massive gamble. There was less in the wicket than we thought but we bowled really well. There is a lot of relentless pressure in our bowling. Not just in this game but throughout. It was very nice to get some runs for myself and then sit down and watch Cook bat for two days. The really great players make big runs and he shows that if you are in that bubble and stay there, there is nothing you can't achieve. It fills with me a lot of pride to stand here and know that we achieved something special as a group. We have not rested on our laurels in the last few years. The players have worked really hard and we should be proud of what they have done. There have been so many guys that have done well. Winning the Ashes in 2009 after losing in the West Indies was huge. Someone like Swann came in and the batsmen have grown in confidence too. Just for today we will enjoy what we have achieved.
Dhoni: First of all congrats to England for becoming the No.1 Test side. A loss is a loss. We have been going from bad to worse in the series. To win you have to be consistent and England have done it. Our batting and bowling has not clicked. No point really, pointing out anyone in particular. We are not the best fielding side in the world but we take pride in our bowling and batting. Our batting is a major area of concern. We have to see off the good balls and score of the bad ones. We have to do better in the next game. I'm still proud of the side I have and there is plenty of cricket left in the Indian side. We try to win each and every game but it is not really possible every time. It is a game of cat and mouse. Everyone wants to win and being No. 1 is not so important. The most important thing is to be consistent. We were the top side for quite some time. For us it is important to prepare well. We tried our best with whatever time we had before the series. It has been one of the series where nothing has clicked. We have experience to do well in the next game and we will be playing for pride.
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