The Indian team’s defeat at Southampton followed a familiar pattern, a pattern which is all too familiar if you are an Indian fan.
The inconsistent batting, the inability of the bowlers to dismiss the lower order – all the ingredients of an Indian overseas loss – were present in this defeat as well. The biggest difference between Trent Bridge and Southampton was India had somehow avoided the clichés in the former but it came back to haunt them in the latter.
The Indian team arrived in England with a hope of winning the series. The series was against an opponent who were going through their own troubles. The English team had just drawn a series at home against an inexperienced Pakistan team.
The home team were struggling to find the right combination and, with the captain and their most experienced opener misfiring, India had a great chance to put this past the hosts.
For all the troubles England had, the visiting team had greater issues. The biggest problem for India was that, barring Virat Kohli, the batsmen took two Tests to get used to the conditions.
Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane, who are the pillars of Indian batting, struggled at the start of the series and came into their own only after Trent Bridge. The Indian lower order was non-existent, and that was the biggest difference between the two sides.
Hardik Pandya batted at No.6 throughout the series – which is way too high. It is unfair to be too harsh on Rishabh Pant, however, as he is just 20 and was making his debut. He will learn for the better as he plays more Test cricket.
After Pant though, India had Ravichandran Ashwin followed by the three pacers. The attack also struggled to close out the innings multiple times which resulted in two defeats.
The lower order batters showed no fight and did not put a price on their wicket. The batting of Mohammad Shami after Ajinkya Rahane got out at Southampton was cringe-worthy.
The Indian batting side has just five specialist batters in the XI and, for them to succeed overseas, the top order should convert the starts they get.
Even though the English pitches had a lot in it for the bowlers, the Indian openers got off to some decent starts. KL Rahul and Shikhar Dhawan both got some starts but did not capitalise on the same. Except for Kohli and Pujara, no one in the Indian team got hundreds.
In a team which has its tail starting at No.6, the top order contributions are crucial.
This is India’s second straight series loss overseas and the issues which were seen in South Africa still exist.
The Indian team travels to Australia later this year and I hope that the team management does some tough introspection to make the necessary adjustments before boarding that plane to down under.
The Australian pitches will be flatter and probably will not have as much swing as in England but, again, the Indian team will need the right personnel to take advantage of those conditions.
Like England, Australia too will have a good lower order with Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Nathan Lyon, who will frustrate our attack and a good plan against them will be required.
The Indian team have the ability to win a series overseas but poor selection and captaincy are the reasons for their repeated failures.
India have a home series coming up against West Indies before they fly out to Australia.
I hope the team management and the selectors make use of that opportunity as, going by recent history, India aren’t playing too many practice games in Australia.
John Erichsen
Roar Guru
No surprises in this series for me. I expected England to win in a tight series and the end result wont indicate how close this series truly was. Both top orders were predicted to struggled to make runs against quality attacks with the Dukes pill doing plenty. Kohli was odds on to banish his English conditions test demons and he did not disappoint. (His series in South Africa and now England elevate him to the very top of the test batting list. An ordinary series in South Africa for his main rival, Steve Smith, magnified by the 12 month suspension leaves little doubt. Joe Root, was disappointing and his stocks have dropped while the last of the big four, Kane Williamson, plays too many two test series to really stamp his worth against the better opponents. Kane Has been in the New Zealand test side since 2010 and never played a series with more than three tests.) Another given was that Bairstow, Ali, Butler would be a massive asset for England, but Curran and Woakes willow work was somewhat less expected. All in all a wonderful series where quality with the bat and ball were rewarded. Nice to see a good contest where the outcome wasn't 99% predictable within two minutes of the toss of the coin.
Tigerbill44
Roar Guru
The cricket played by both the teams have disappointed me; given that both are superpowers of world cricket. The contest is intense; but poor. To me, the Jennings dismissal today pretty much sums up the series.
Giri Subramanian
Roar Guru
Agreed Paul. The Indian batting has been a disappointment. India have a longish tail which did not help matters. The top two got off to some decent starts and then got out together most of the times. Pujara and Rahane took 2 Tests to get settled each and then our bowling lacked imagination once the lower order got going. These are the issues plaguing Indian cricket for a while now. The reason why India have been failing outside Asia in recent times. Virat Kohli needs the support he needs to guide the Indian batting line up. I hope Pujara and Rahane do much better in Australia.
Matt H
Roar Guru
When two flawed teams play, the home team wins. That is the story of this series.
Paul
Roar Guru
Giri, I suspect there are a number of causes for India's problems in England. The openers have past 50 three times so far and two of those were in the game India won. The issue has been how quickly they've lost their second wicket. In every innings bar one, they've been two down within 15 runs of losing their first wicket, which is poor at Test level. Indian players have not changed their techniques. Look at how man have been out LBW, playing across the line of the ball, or caught behind chasing deliveries wide of the off stump. India has persisted in choosing guys who are out of form. You've mentioned this repeatedly in your article. They also have a curious selection process. No Pujara in the first Test and Yadav in, then Pujara in for the rest of the series and Yadav banished to India? The Indian Test side looks more like an ODI team, with 5 batsmen, a keeper, an all-rounder who is not yet Test class and a bunch of bowlers. The bowlers have done well when the ball was moving around but as you point out, they're not closing out innings. In saying that, Englands batting strength i done the order once the ball has gone soft, so Curran and co getting runs is no surprise. I suspect the overall problem is India is living on past wins at home and have not moved with the times. The balance of the side has been badly thrown now that MS Dhoni is not there to anchor the lower order and the top order is getting old. Above all, India does not play enough Tests away from Asian conditions to be competitive with this current side. If Australia were at full strength this summer, it would have been embarrassing for India. As it is, the series should be competitive.
Giri Subramanian
Roar Guru
The Indian team has the ability to win overseas which has been proven with their wins in SA and England. The problem with the team is lack of consistency. The bowling attack always lets the lower order score runs, this is not specific to this present Indian team. Previous captains were guilty of this too. They would drop the intensity and the bowlers would start to bowl differently to what they were bowling till then when the tail comes into bat. The captain needs to play a crucial role in this and that is where Virat lacks similar to other captains of the past. I don't agree to the FTB tag. Ajinkya Rahane has better record outside Asia than in Asia. He averages 50+ in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. The problem with Rahane is that he has lost the consistency which he displayed in the 2013-2015 season. The other batter who has good record outside Asia is Murali Vijay, who was woefully out of form. Pujara has finally started to score runs and Rahul is anything but a FTB. The problem is that the middle lower order isn't strong enough and the top order failures are costing India more than England. If you see even the English openers have been poor, Root has been poor, Bairstow has been poor. None of them you would call an FTB. The pitches have been such and the bowling from both sides have been good with the new ball.
Derek Murray
Roar Rookie
The Indian team has the ability to win a series overseas. I’m pretty sure you didn’t make this case. Your article focused on how the batters didn’t make enough runs and the tail didn’t show enough application. I agree changing the side about was silly but I’m not sure this was a deciding factor. The Indian batting lineup bar Kohli are flat track bullies and the bowlers don’t place enough importance on their wickets (bar Ashwin). Better captaincy and selection won’t solve those problems.