India vs England Tests 2016-17: India Win 4-0 — Kohli 655 Runs Player of Series, Karun Nair 303* (2nd Indian Triple Century), Jadeja 7/48, India 759/7d Highest-Ever Total

India won the five-match Anthony de Mello Trophy Test series against England in November-December 2016 by 4-0, with the 1st Test drawn. 1st Test Rajkot (Nov 9-13): Draw — England 537 & 260/3d; India 488 & 172/6. Joe Root scored 124 (his first Test century on the subcontinent); Moeen Ali scored 117 and took 3 wickets — Player of the Match. 2nd Test Visakhapatnam (Nov 17-21): India won by 246 runs — India 455 & 204; England 255 & 158. Kohli scored 167 in the 1st innings and 81 in the 2nd; Ashwin took 5/67 in England's 1st innings. Kohli won Player of the Match. 3rd Test Mohali (Nov 26-29): India won by 8 wickets — England 283 & 236; India 417 & 104/2. Jadeja won Player of the Match. 4th Test Mumbai Wankhede (Dec 8-12): India won by innings and 36 runs — England 400 & 195; India 631. Kohli scored 235 — his 3rd Test double century of the 2016 calendar year. Kohli and Jayant Yadav shared a 241-run 8th-wicket partnership — an Indian record. Kohli won Player of the Match. 5th Test Chennai (Dec 16-20): India won by innings and 75 runs — England 477 & 207; India 759/7d. Karun Nair scored 303* in only his 2nd Test. India 759/7d is India's highest-ever Test total. Jadeja took 7/48 in England's 1st innings — his career-best figures at the time. Karun Nair won Player of the Match. Player of the Series: Virat Kohli — 655 runs. Ashwin led the series wickets with 28; Jadeja took approximately 25-26. Adil Rashid was England's leading wicket-taker with 23. Virat Kohli captained India; Alastair Cook captained England and resigned after the series.

Karun Nair 303* at Chennai: Only the Second Indian Triple Centurion

Karun Nair's 303 not out in the 5th Test at Chennai — scored in only his second Test match — is one of the most extraordinary individual innings in Indian Test cricket history. Nair converted his maiden Test century into a triple, becoming only the second Indian after Virender Sehwag (319 vs Pakistan, 2004) to score a Test triple century. He was only the third batsman ever to convert their maiden Test hundred into a triple. Nair scored at a strike rate of 79.52, hitting 32 fours and 4 sixes off 381 balls. His innings anchored India's 759/7 declared — and with England bowled out for 477 in their 1st innings, India won by innings and 75 runs. Nair was playing just his 2nd Test, having debuted in the 3rd Test at Mohali. His 303* is the second-highest score by any Indian in Test cricket, behind only Sehwag's 319.

India 759/7 Declared: The Highest Test Total in Indian Cricket History

India's 759/7 declared at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai in the 5th Test surpassed their previous highest Test total (726/9d vs Sri Lanka in 2009) and remains India's all-time highest Test total. The innings was built on Nair's unbeaten 303 and supporting contributions from across the batting order on a flat Chennai surface. England, despite posting 477 in their own 1st innings — a competitive total — were undone by Jadeja's 7/48 in their 2nd innings of 207, which gave India the innings victory. The total confirmed how deeply India's batting resources ran under Kohli: even without a dominant first-wicket partnership, they could construct monster totals.

Kohli 655 Runs: Three Double Centuries in a Calendar Year

Virat Kohli's Player of the Series performance — 655 runs including 167 at Visakhapatnam and 235 at Mumbai — added to a 2016 home season that established him as the world's pre-eminent Test batsman. His 235 at the Wankhede was his 3rd Test double century of the 2016 calendar year, placing him in the company of Donald Bradman, Michael Clarke, Brendon McCullum, and Ricky Ponting as the only batsmen to achieve that feat in a calendar year. At Mumbai he also partnered Jayant Yadav in a 241-run 8th-wicket stand — an Indian record for that wicket in Tests. Kohli's series dominance against a full-strength England pace attack (Broad, Anderson, Woakes) in sub-continental conditions confirmed his status as the world's best Test batsman in 2016.

England's Tour: Root 124 at Rajkot, Rashid 23 Wickets, Cook's Final Series

England performed creditably in the drawn 1st Test at Rajkot — Root's 124 was his first Test century on the subcontinent, and Moeen Ali's 117 plus his 3 wickets made him Player of the Match. But the sub-continental conditions and India's home superiority proved too much across the remaining Tests. Adil Rashid was England's standout bowler with 23 series wickets despite the heavy defeat — his willingness to attack on turning pitches was England's most consistent bowling contribution. Moeen Ali's 1st Test century was England's batting highlight. Alastair Cook's captaincy, under which England had rebuilt their Test credentials, ended when he resigned after the 4-0 defeat — one of the heaviest England have suffered in India. Joe Root was appointed captain in early 2017 to begin a new era.