August 15, 2007	Wednesday	Sha’aban 1, 1428

NEW DELHI, Aug 14: Rahul Dravid's triumphant Indians were on Tuesday rewarded with a $250,000 bonus by the country's cricket chiefs for a rare Test series win in England.

India won the three-match series 1-0 after the final Test ended in a draw at the Oval on Monday. The tourists had won the second Test at Trent Bridge after being saved by rain in the drawn first Test at Lord's.

It was only the third series win by India in England following the 1-0 win by Ajit Wadekar's team in 1971 and the 2-0 victory by Kapil Dev's men in 1986.

Sharad Pawar, president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), hailed the win and announced a bonus of Rs10 million ($250,000) for the 16 players, interim manager Chandu Borde and assistant coaches Robin Singh and Venkatesh Prasad.

“I would like to congratulate the Indian contingent for their excellent teamwork and performance against England in the Test series,” Pawar said in a statement.

“I am sure every Indian will feel proud of our players, who have won a series in England after a gap of 21 years. I am sure a similar performance will be shown in the one-day series.”

The seven-match one-day series starts at the Rose Bowl on Aug 21.

The series success was marred by widespread criticism of Dravid's decision not to enforce the follow-on on the fourth day despite being 319 runs ahead, allowing England an escape route from defeat.

England, set an improbable victory target of 500, batted out the last 110 overs to make 369-6 in their second innings and force a draw, but still lost their first Test series at home since 2001.

Kapil, hailing the series win, wished India had enforced the follow-on and pressed for a 2-0 margin.

“If you want to blame, you can blame the entire team, they would have taken a collective decision,” the former all-rounder said.

“Once he decided to bat again, India should have attacked and tried to win the match, not draw it. I just don't understand why there was the need to rest the bowlers.”—AFP