India lauded for series victory in England

Former players and the media hailed India's test team after they clinched a first series victory in England for 21 years on Monday.

Rahul Dravid's side drew the third and final test at the Oval to win the series 1-0 after recording a comprehensive seven-wicket win in the second test in Nottingham.

Rain had saved India from defeat in the opening test at Lord's.

The series victory was India's third in England after triumphs in 1971 and 1986, and came a year after Dravid had led his country to their first series victory in the Caribbean for 35 years.

"To beat England in England is not easy," Ajit Wadekar, who led India to their first series victory in England and the West Indies, told Reuters yesterday.

"The conditions are testing for visitors. They may have been without (Andrew) Flintoff and (Steve) Harmison but every England bowler knows how to exploit the conditions."

England's defeat ended a six-year unbeaten streak of Michael Vaughan's team at home.

Kapil Dev, who led India to their last series win in England, hailed the series win but felt a victory in the final test would have enhanced the side's reputation.

Dravid did not enforce the follow-on despite a first innings lead of 319 and his safety-first approach was subject of heated debate.

"If you want to blame, you can blame the entire team, they would have taken a collective decision," he told Aaj Tak channel.

"Once he has decided to bat, India should have attacked and tried to win the match, not draw," he said.

"I just don't understand why there was the need to rest the bowlers."

Chief Indian selector Dilip Vengsarkar, however, backed Dravid's decision not to enforce the follow-on.

"We were 1-0 up. We had the series in the pocket. There was no reason to take the risk," he was quoted by the Indian media yesterday.

The Indian board has announced a cash prize pool of 10 million rupees ($245,616) to the team for the series victory.