IND vs ENG

With that, it is time for the duo of Darpan Tikiya and Sooryanarayan Sesha to sign off. We hope you enjoyed the coverage. Feel free to scroll below and read the summary. Aavjo!

The caravan will now move to the Champions Trophy, which begins in exactly one week's time. India could not have scripted a better prelude to the marquee competition. They play their first game in the tournament against Bangladesh in Dubai on 20th February. On the other hand, England have plenty of questions to answer. They will face arch-rivals Australia in their first match in Lahore on 22nd February. 

8:51pm IST - Rohit Sharma receives the trophy and the celebrations begin. The debutants from this series — Varun Chakravarthy, Harshit Rana and Yashasvi Jaiswal — stand in the middle of the group for the celebratory photograph. 

Rohit Sharma (India captain): "Very very pleasing. We knew when we came into the series that there will be some challenges but we came out pretty well facing those challenges. Whatever was thrown at us, we responded pretty well this series. (On the terrific delivery he received today) There's nothing I could have done about that. You've got to give credit to the bowler. The bowlers are there to get you out and you are there to face those challenges as a batter. Sometimes you are lucky and you move on from there. But second ball I was facing, I couldn't have done much about that. (Areas of improvement?) I don't see anything wrong that we did this series. There are some areas but I'm not going to stand here and discuss about it. There are some chats in the dressing room and the players are comfortable chatting about it. It's just about ensuring that we as a team are moving forward. It's not an individual sport, it's about the team. The guys wanting to do different things at different times, those are the things we talk about with the players. It's our job to ensure that there is consistency within the squad, we try and keep things clear. In terms of skill, near-perfect skills throughout the series. That is what a good team or a champion team looks forward to - getting better every team. We want to improve in every aspect of that. I would look at that and move forward. (On scoring 356 today) Very happy at the end. When you start an innings there's no particular target we discuss about. We want to play the shots each guy can play. There is a little bit of freedom we want to have as a squad to go out there and play how we want to play. A year and a half ago the World Cup was the perfect example. We've not played a lot of ODIs in recent times but that's how we looked to play. There will be times where things will not fall into place but that's okay."

Shubman Gill is the Player of the Match as well as the Player of the Series. Here is what he has to say: "I was feeling good. And it is one of the better knocks that I have played in ODIs. The wicket was a bit tricky at the start. There was something in it for the fast bowlers. The chat in the middle was to rotate the strike. Very satisfied. You don't think too much when you are batting well. You just react to the ball coming to you."

Jos Buttler (England captain): "The game probably followed a similar pattern to the whole tour. We done well in stages but we've been outplayed by a fantastic team. The learnings are the way we want to play our cricket and the style is the right one. We just haven't been able to do that well enough. Individually and collectively we need to find ways to play that style better. I think they put a really good score on the board. Credit to Shubman Gill, I thought he played a great innings. We were going to have to play really well to chase that down. We got off to a great start again but a familiar kind of story. We've got to find ways to extend that and play better. We came up against a really good side which keeps challenging you with a lot of spin options and seam options. We threatened throughout the whole tour but were never good enough to win games of cricket."

It was tough to watch England's batters come up a cropper again if you were an English supporter. And in an amusing moment around the same time, Jofra Archer was spotted taking a nap in the dugout. Here's a watch!👇

Let's hear from Shreyas Iyer: (On his different knocks this series) In the first game I wanted to take the momentum towards our team, we lost two consecutive wickets. Thereafter, the bowlers were on top and I played each ball to its merit. I picked the line and length well and I could pick it from ball one. I backed my instincts and was able to deliver. Second game I unfortunately got run out. Today I thought it was an opportunity to go out in the middle. Shubman and Virat laid a fantastic platform for me to express myself. I wish I could have got a hundred (laughs). The break I got in between where I was working with the domestic team, I also got some time to work on my technique. Especially the drop-in shots which got me singles, not the pulls and cuts, that was more satisfying for me. The dressing room is electrifying with a lot of energy. I personally feel that each and every individual is in great form. I think it's great for us to win this series and carry this momentum into the Champions Trophy. Every individual stepped up in this series. Each one looked marvelous but the players stepped up at crucial moments. (On the side's fielding) We've worked a lot on that. As a team we are trying to deliver and create that sort of breakthrough which the team needs at an imperative time. Keeping my fingers crossed, hopefully I'll get the best fielder award for the series (grins). (Ready for the Champions Trophy?) We'll see it as it comes. Just want to focus on the celebration today.

8:23pm IST - India win by 142 runs and seal the series 3-0.

Shubman Gill 112 (102) | Harshit Rana 2/31 (10)
Gus Atkinson 38* (19) | Adil Rashid 4/64 (10)

AR Rahman's Maa Tujhe Salaam plays at the ground and the jovial Indian crowd sings along to celebrate this victory.

Could you have asked for a better rehearsal before a marquee tournament? Three matches, three comprehensive wins and different instruments striking the perfect note on each occasion. Though, one man was constantly at the front of the orchestra, holding the fort and allowing others to bat around him. He saved his best knock for his favourite venue. Shubman Gill not just embodied sturdiness, but also panache and vigour on his way to a 7th ODI century. One could argue that it is his consistency that has made India replace Yashasvi Jaiswal with a bowler in the Champions Trophy squad.

Another major reason was Shreyas Iyer's envious returns. He played a couple of robust counter-attacking knocks and turned the tide in India's favour. Today as well, Iyer looked in great touch and notched up a 78 (64). But perhaps the biggest positive today was Virat Kohli's half century — his first since the 2023 World Cup final. With that, both him and Rohit Sharma head to the big competition with runs under their belt. KL Rahul too had the chance to spend some time out in the middle and returned a laudable 40 (29).

On the other hand, England's batting followed the same pattern as it had in the first two games — akin to that of a brand new soda bottle. Began with a lot of effervescence, but fizzled out in the middle overs. A lot of batters got starts and most were guilty of playing poor shots to get out. India's bowlers bowled as tightly knit unit with each one of them seemingly very clear about their roles. Despite him being hit for four fours in an over, Rohit kept Arshdeep Singh on and the left arm seamer repaid the faith by dismissing both the openers by the end of his spell. Harshit Rana too came back after being thrashed in the first couple of overs to finish with excellent figures of 5-1-31-2. Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav were reliable as ever in the middle overs. The former's returns with the bat has been another big positive from this series.

England leave for the Champions Trophy with plenty of questions left to be answered and perhaps, a few more that sprung up during this series. But all said and done, Adil Rashid, who picked up 4/64 today, has been a big bright spec. Tom Banton's impressive outing and Mark Wood's fiery pace were also major plusses. Perhaps, one could add the openers to the list, even though they have failed to convert their starts into something substantial. Apart from that, there isn't much to be upbeat about.

34.2 Axar Patel to Gus Atkinson, FLATTENS THE OFF POLE! India complete the 3-0 sweep! Another arm ball on a back of a length radar as it is angled into the off stump. Atkinson backs away and makes room before throwing his hands at it. Plays all around it and the off pole lies flat on the ground. India flatten England by 142 runs to seal the series 3-0!

Gus Atkinson b Axar Patel 38 (19b, 6x4, 1x6)

34.1 Axar Patel to Gus Atkinson, back of a length and quick around the off stump. Atkinson hangs back and manages to punch it back even as it keeps a tad low