England's first overseas win in almost three years was earned over five days, but its roots go back many months

England are on an upward trajectory and have India in their sights after their first overseas win in almost three years

England will move up to second in the Test rankings after securing a series win in Sri Lanka, and they now have their eyes on India in first.

There remains some way to go to catch Virat Kohli and his side, but this is undoubtedly an England team on an upward trajectory that enjoyed a further positive jolt with their first overseas series win in nearly three years.

This result was earned over five hard days but its roots go back many months. Rome was not built in a day and England’s match-winning centurion can almost pinpoint the moment it all changed, the genesis of this new-look England back in April.

“It felt like we had a breakthrough moment at the start of the Christchurch Test match, sort of turned a corner,” said captain Joe Root, whose 124 saw him named Man of the Match at Pallekele.

“We had a little blip in the first Test v Pakistan but since that moment we've really gone on an upward curve. Since that moment the attitude and the things we're doing around the cricket are definitely helping us.”

There have been many changes in the intervening eight months. Some of those have been temporary dependent on conditions, like the decision to play three spinners on this tour and bringing in Oliver Pope’s swashbuckling middle-order balance for the India series. Others have been more permanent, like Alastair Cook’s retirement, but those meetings in Christchurch, coming off the back of another traumatic Ashes tour, were where Root feels he finally got to start afresh.

“That was where we stripped things back a little bit and tried to give real clarity,” he said.

“We’d had a really tough time of it up until then that winter and it was a real good chance for us to draw a line under it, get a clean slate and start something and since that point I think we’ve really looked to continue our improvement and I think we’re seeing our reward now.”

This series victory owes much to Root’s captaincy, though he admits there are still kinks he must iron out that kept him awake much of the night - “three hours sleep I reckon” - before that crucial morning session on Sunday.

Joe Root performance remarkably well as captain (AFP/Getty)

The victory also owes plenty to other strands of the ECB’s England set-up, the “hugely beneficial” Lions team that has blooded so many of this squad in testing overseas conditions for the first time and the One-Day team, whose increasing influence is clear to see in both personnel and philosophy. England said they’d be positive and assert themselves and it was a promise they carried through on and which brought them this historic overseas success.

“It's always nice to see the performances but it's the way we've been doing it that’s satisfying. The way we've been backing up how we say we're going to do things.

“We're learning from the one-day side as well. Eoin [Morgan] said to the guys 'go and play with freedom' and you saw that when the guys really took that in, harnessed it and embraced it, we saw a big improvement very quickly.

“It's not as straightforward as that in Test cricket, you can't say 'swing as hard as you can' but at times being able to take pressure off each other and have a good understanding of how you want to play in certain circumstances, that clarity can really help you.

“Sometimes you'll make the wrong decision but get away with it because you've really thrown yourself into it.

“On occasions that's probably been the case out here.”

With Jonny Bairstow and Stuart Broad forced to watch on from the balcony after being left out and James Anderson unlikely to play another tour on the sub-continent, the talk of change and evolution is obvious.

But Root, ever the diplomat, is keen for this to be a new look rather than a new team, even with experienced campaigners like Bairstow and Broad being left on the sidelines.

“They’re definitely a big part of this squad. I wouldn’t say it’s a ‘new England’ I’d say it’s the same England team from the summer that is improving, adapting, learning and growing.

“It’s not about the eleven guys, it’s about the full squad. The work that they’ve done, the pressure they’re putting on the guys in the starting XI to keep improving, they’re driving the standards up all the time.

“Having that strength in depth has been a massive contributor to these wins.

“Things can change quite drastically in Test cricket, you have to be a bit adaptable.

“We've really managed to find a way to do that. We're learning about each other, our own games. Through that you're starting to see confidence grow and improvement within the squad.”