Ind vs Eng: Indian fast bowlers quicker than England pacers at Trent Bridge

Sports journalist Mihir Bose recounts what startled him about India's win against England in the third Test at Trent Bridge, including the fact that maybe for the first time in history Indian pacers were faster than English seamers

In August 1971 I stood rooted at one spot as I watched Ajit Wadekar's men create history at the Oval by winning for the first time in England. I dared not move as early that morning, as India chased 173, Wadekar had been run out and I feared if I moved the psychic forces would prevent my great dream coming true.

Having lived in England for nearly 50 years, as student and journalist, I have been privileged to watch all seven Indian triumphs. This one is quite the most impressive and displays a new India. Apart from the pre-lunch session on the first day, India dominated England in a way it had not done in any of the previous victories. Leeds in 2002 was massive, but this victory takes India to a new level as the Indian quicks have undone England. What is more, they have been faster and more lethal than English pacemen. I never thought I would ever write those words.

Having watched cricket when Mumbai was Bombay and Tests were played at the CCI, I was used to Ghulam Guard, the Bombay policeman, opening the attack and bowling just long enough to take the shine off before my hero, the great Subhash Gupte came on. I saw the age of the great spinners, Chandra, Bedi, Prasanna, and Venkat, but now to see Bumrah, Ishant and Shami torment English batsmen with swing and seam is like having all my fantasies come true.

I grew up being told that Trueman so terrorised the Indian batsmen they backed away from their wicket in fear. In this Test I saw Broad back away from an Indian fast bowler. To complete this picture of the new India there is the contrast between the captain who brought India her first victory in England, Wadekar, and Kohli.

This Test began with Indian cricketeers wearing black armbands to mourn the passing of Wadekar. Wadekar could not have been more reticent, less in-your-face and never showed any emotions. He certainly didn't show much at that magical moment on the Oval balcony in 1971.

Kohli could not be more different. Twice in this series after scoring hundreds he has blown kisses to his wife. I cannot imagine Wadekar ever doing that. We did not even know what his wife was called, and he would not have thanked her after scoring a hundred, as Kohli did. It is also significant that at the presentation ceremony, after Kohli had accepted his bottle of champagne, his first words were to dedicate his victory to the victims of the Kerala flood. This awareness of the wider world is very much a reflection of the India that has emerged in the 21st century. India's cricket leaders now feel confident to talk about things beyond cricket.

Also, Kohli's men not only want to win abroad but expect to do so. Wadekar's generation thought a draw abroad would do. At the weekend of the Oval Test of 1971, a game in which India was behind for most of the match, he was thinking a draw would mean he had won a series in the West Indies, and drawn in England, which no other Indian captain had ever done.

But, perhaps, what sets Kohli's generation apart is that they can recover from debacles. Watching the defeat at Lord's I kept thinking of 1974 when India were bowled out there for 42 and just collapsed after that. Many predicted India would do the same at Trent Bridge. That they have not shows the steel and resilience they now have, something they had never shown before. Certainly not away from home.

Mihir Bose's new book on Indian cricket, The Ninth Wave, will be published by Aleph Books next year.

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