Although the series was already decided in the hosts’ favour, one might have expected a little fight from England in the stunning Himalayan foothills in Dharamsala. None, however, was forthcoming.
England lost by an innings and 64 runs, a rather limp end to a tour, which, although always posing a challenge, initially held promise. The extraordinary character England had shown to win the first test in Hyderabad, along with the discovery of two exciting spinners in Bashir and Hartley should have at least made the series competitive.
Other than the spin pair, only Zak Crawley had an uncompromisingly positive series. Root salvaged some pride in the last two tests, but otherwise there was little to praise for England. Duckett and Pope had very Rootmathsable series, while Stokes and Bairstow failed to make enough.
Huge credit must also be given to young Yashasvi Jaiswal, whose 700 runs, including two double centuries, deservedly earned him the player of the series award. He played from the first test to the last with not only great power and timing, but patience, watchfulness and maturity usually reserved for those with far older heads. He is without doubt one of the very best prospects I’ve seen emerge, and while he has yet to tour England or Australia, his potential is stratospheric.
Ultimately India outbatted and outbowled England, so the defeat is very much one to take on the chin; however, given the significant shifts in English cricket over the past two or so years, the tour should have yielded more than last time. Even if results were the same, (worse, technically, but only by dint of there being one more match on this tour) the new attitude of Stokes and McCullum should have at least inspired England to be competitive throughout.
This competitiveness simply failed to materialise. Of course they won the first test, and didn’t do too badly in the second, but from then on it was the same England as ever. Batting collapses, squandering winning positions and eventually being kicked into the dirt at the end of the series. What was especially worrying was the fact that with every setback besides the first test, England doubled down and only ended up getting worse.
The doubts around this England side continue to mount then. The two series this summer are of course important, and I would not wish to minimise them, but it is undeniable that England should be beating the West Indies and Sri Lanka. The real tests will come as ever in the overseas series, and those against India and Australia, the two best teams in the world, and so far, Bazball is yet to chalk up a series win against either.
“Indian cricket team at Newlands” by mikkelz is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0