England thrashed India by an innings and 76 runs to win the third Test at Headingley with more than a day to spare as they levelled the five-match series at 1-1.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Let's take a look at three aspects of a resounding home victory that could have a bearing on the remaining two Tests at the Oval and Old Trafford.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Here's to you, Mr Robinson<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n Following a 151-run loss in the second Test at Lord's, England came into this match having seen injured express quick Mark Wood join a list of absent pacemen that includes Stuart Broad, Jofra Archer, Chris Woakes, Olly Stone and Ben Stokes.<\/p>\r\n\r\n Ollie Robinson, however, took two wickets in India's meagre first-innings 78 and followed that up with a Test-best 5-65 -- a haul that included a quartet of frontline batsmen in Rohit Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli and Rishabh Pant -- as England surged to victory on Saturday's fourth morning.<\/p>\r\n\r\n The 26-year-old only made his England debut in June but his four Tests have yielded 23 wickets at an impressively low average of under 18 apiece.<\/p>\r\n\r\n Robinson's stock ball aims to seam away from the right-hander -- such a delivery did for Kohli on Saturday -- but he can also challenge the stumps and bring lbw into play with a nip-backer.<\/p>\r\n\r\n No wonder the India captain labelled Robinson a "real find", with England counterpart Joe Root saying: "It's been phenomenal to watch him perform as he has. He's had big influences on all the Tests he's played."<\/p>\r\n\r\n Root vs Kohli - a lopsided contest so far<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n The two captains in this series are unquestionably among the best batsmen of their era, yet the returns of Root and Kohli after three matches could scarcely be more different.<\/p>\r\n\r\n Root's 121 on his Yorkshire home ground -- his sixth Test hundred this year -- was also his third in as many matches against India after a 109 in a rain-marred draw at Trent Bridge and 180 not out at Lord's.<\/p>\r\n\r\n The England skipper has scored 507 runs in the series at an average of 126.75 and yet there was a time when his relatively low conversion rate of fifties into hundreds meant some questioned whether he deserved a place alongside Kohli, Australia's Steve Smith and New Zealand's Kane Williamson as a modern-day master batsman.<\/p>\r\n\r\n By contrast, in the three Tests Kohli has managed a modest 124 runs at a lowly 24.80 while being given a working over by England's quicks, with his second-innings 55 at Headingley his highest score of the series so far.<\/p>\r\n\r\n It is now 19 innings -- a period of nearly two years -- since Kohli last scored a Test century. And for all he relishes verbal confrontation, arguably the best way Kohli can inspire India to a series win is by rediscovering the form that has seen him score 7,671 runs in 95 Tests at 51.14 including 27 hundreds.<\/p>\r\n\r\n Momentum myth<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n There may have been a time when, once a team got on top in a Test series, it could establish winning 'momentum' for the rest of the campaign.<\/p>\r\n\r\n But in an era of compressed schedules -- this series compresses five Tests into some six weeks -- fortunes can fluctuate between matches, with a losing side having little time to brood on a defeat before the next encounter.<\/p>\r\n\r\n It's why Kohli has every reason for thinking India, triumphant at Lord's but outclassed at Headingley, could bounce back at the Oval next week.<\/p>\r\n\r\n "If what happens in one game guarantees you the same thing in the next game, we should have smashed England again, which didn't happen because it's a new day," he said.<\/p>\r\n\r\n "We like to be in this situation where people start coming at us with doubts and really start questioning the ability of our team," Kohli added.<\/p>\r\n\r\n