India v England: captain Alastair Cook salutes 'very special' series win The series success was all the more impressive after a heavy nine-wicket defeat in the first Test in Ahmedabad, which prompted widespread forecasts of a 4-0 series whitewash in the hosts' favour. "We didn't handle the Ahmedabad wicket as well but the others were all very different and we adapted well," said Cook. The bowlers have been brilliant and our batters have contributed big runs. Everyone in the squad can be very proud, especially after Ahmedabad and that heavy defeat. The guys who played a couple of games all made a difference and the amount of effort the guys have put in for me, I can't ask any more. It's always nice when it goes well but I can't praise the team enough. And the support we've had everywhere we've gone, not just from the Barmy Army but also the Indian public, has been fantastic. Former England captain Ian Botham was full of praise for seamer James Anderson and spin duo Graeme Swann and Monty Panesar, whose stock rose after being omitted in Ahmedabad. "He (Anderson) has been tremendous and he's been well supported," Botham told Sky Sports 1. He's been the seamer that's been there throughout the series but he's had - apart from the debacle of the first Test - from the second Test onwards, he's had the two spinners to work with. Between them the combination of those three has been the difference. All three of them out-bowled their opponents. Jimmy - he's the leader - Monty Panesar and Graeme Swann is some combination. Botham, who took 13 wickets and scored a century in a one-off Test to mark the Board of Control for Cricket in India's Golden Jubilee in 1980, also highlighted England's superior fitness in unforgiving sub-continent conditions. "When you're playing in these conditions it's hard work, it's hot, it's unfriendly to bowlers, it's hard work for batsmen concentrating and all in all England outshone India in every side of fitness," he added. Former England opener Nick Knight pinpointed Alastair Cook's century in the loss in Ahmedabad as the changing point in the series. Cook registered the first of three hundreds in a losing cause but Knight believes the innings may have boosted England. "We've all been talking about the dramatic turnaround from that first Test match to the second, third and fourth," he said. For me the way Alastair Cook played in that second innings of that Ahmedabad Test match maybe just settled the whole team down.