India head into the fifth Test in Manchester starting Friday just one match away from the superb achievement of winning Test series in both Australia and England in the same year.
Their 157-run win at the Oval completed Monday, that put them 2-1 up with one to play, came after England's innings and 76-run victory at Headingley, where India were dismissed for just 78 in the first innings.
But it was a different story in south London.
Rohit Sharma scored his first Test hundred outside of India, all-rounder Shardul Thakur hit fifties in both innings and took valuable wickets and Ravindra Jadeja bowled some probing spin.
Jasprit Bumrah's devastating spell of reverse swing - 6-3-6-2 -- was then instrumental in England losing their last eight wickets for 69 runs as India bounced back in style.
India's win was made all the more remarkable by the omission of Ravichandran Ashwin, yet to feature in this series, despite the off-spinner's haul of 413 Test wickets.
In Australia, India recovered from being 36 all out in the series opener to win 2-1 and they now lead England by the same scoreline after bouncing back from another batting collapse.
- 'Love being written off' -
"It was unbelievable," said India captain Virat Kohli after the victory. "We love being written off and I think a lot of people after Leeds really stood up and said, 'Will India be able to come back?'
"But we've shown time and time again that we are a top side and we have been at the top for a while now, and that's because of the belief and the passion that we have in this group," he added.
Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president Sourav Ganguly, himself a former India captain, wrote on Twitter: "The skill is the difference but the biggest difference is the absorbing power of pressure. Indian cricket is far ahead than the rest." But no one is now writing off India, who have been in England since losing the inaugural World Test Championship final to New Zealand in June.
In Manchester, however, India must cope with the pressure of being favourites to win, or at least avoid defeat, if they are to enjoy just a fourth series victory in England following their 1971, 1986 and 2007 triumphs.
India may be able to summon some of the 'backs to the wall' spirit Kohli thrives upon from knowing they will be without head coach Ravi Shastri, bowling coach Bharat Arun and fielding coach Ramakrishnan Sridhar, who will all miss the match after testing positive for Covid-19.
