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There is no disgrace in losing a Test, but to be thumped by an innings in three days – 14 hours and 15 minutes to be precise – is humiliating. India suffered such embarrassment in the Manchester Test on Saturday.
This from a team boasting quality batsmen Murali Vijay, Virat Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara and Gautam Gambhir. It shocks the senses.
Furthermore, England did not have their front-line fast bowler, Stuart Broad, in the second innings.
It must be among India’s most degrading defeats. Just look at their lowlights:
• They collapsed from 0 for 8 to 4 for 8, losing 4 for 0 at one stage on the opening day. It reminded me of the 1952 Leeds Test when India lost 4 for 0, and the 1952 Oval Test when they lost 5 for 6.
• On 7 August 2014, six Indian batsmen made ducks in the first innings. This equalled a Test record which has occurred only three times; Pakistan versus West Indies at Karachi in 1980-81 in the first innings, South Africa versus India at Ahmedabad in 1996-97 in the last innings, and Bangladesh versus West Indies at Dhaka in 2002-03 in the third innings.
• Kohli, considered among top Test batsmen, has averaged 13.50 in eight innings in this Test series.
• India failed to reach 180 in their last three Test innings; all out for 178 in the second innings of the Southampton Test and for 152 and 161 in the Manchester Test.
• The pitch was certainly not unplayable as England scored well on the same surface. If number eight Indian batsman Ravichandran Ashwin can score 40 and 46 not out in the Manchester Test why can’t others, apart from skipper MS Dhoni?
So what’s wrong, India? The England attack of James Anderson and Stuart Broad is adequate and efficient but not frightening. Good but not great about sums them up. They are not capable of dismissing a good batting line up for under 200 in three consecutive innings.
And Indian batsmen can destroy spinners of the Shane Warne class, home and away. To fall for a mediocre off-spinner like Moeen Ali is beyond comprehension.
In this series the bearded Moeen has captured 19 wickets at 22.94, including spells of 6 for 67 and 4 for 39. It’s getting curiouser and curiouser!
The Lord’s victory last month should have inspired Indian cricketers to greater heights. Instead their morale has plummeted, going from bad to terrible.
Will they get off the mat and deliver counterpunches as Alastair Cook’s England did after their Lord’s defeat?
Did Ravindra Jadeja’s confrontation with Anderson zap India’s morale? Has Anderson getting off scot-free put India in a negative mindset?
Has the injury to their star of the Lord’s Test, Ishant Sharma, made them change their gear from drive to reverse?
Will India’s woeful form interest Australia, with Dhoni’s men heading Down Under for a Test series starting on 4 December in Brisbane?
Will India change the captain? I doubt it as senior player Kohli is in the worst batting slump of his career. Gambhir has not achieved much on the England tour so far either.
But Michael Clarke’s Aussies must not take it easy against the inconsistent Indians, who are just as capable of reaching heights as fumbling on the floor.