England were comprehensively beaten 4-1 in the Test series by India.
After England lost the recently concluded Test series to India 4-1, the team has been criticized from various factions. The visitors gave a tough fight to the hosts in the first four Tests but ran out of steam in the final Test, thus losing the game by an innings margin.
England won the first Test at Hyderabad, and it seemed like they are here to create some history. But India came into its own from the second Test onwards. The hosts showed their wide range of skill and expertise to make the conditions work in their favour. In a collective team effort, India decimated England in the last four Tests.
Despite having an excellent away record in the last decade, India are often mocked for their home wins. Former India opener Sunil Gavaskar has been vocal against the touring sides who complain about the turning pitches in India.
Before the start of the Test series, Gavaskar had claimed that English media would ‘whine’ and ‘cry’ about the pitches whenever they start to lose matches. But since the pitches were sporting ones and did not provide significant turn for the spinners, the talk about the pitches were limited.
“There is no excuse for regular whining and moaning, they (England) have beaten fair and square,” Gavaskar said on commentary.
The pitches were mostly good for batting barring Hyderabad and Ranchi, where there was a bit more turn than the other pitches. India adapted well to the pitches and conditions and used their experience to great effect. Not only the spinners, Indian fast bowlers played a crucial role as well, with Jasprit Bumrah picking up 19 wickets at an average of 16.89.
Meanwhile, former India spinner Murali Kartik blamed England’s Bazball approach for their downfall in the series.
“You can’t run a marathon like a 100-metre. If you do, you’d be gasping for breath. Even in marathons, there are phases where you need to consolidate your energy. In a Test match, if you bat one way, you can rarely come out on top. They haven’t just trusted their defence,” Kartik said on commentary.
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The win for India meant they solidify their top spot in the WTC table. England, on the other hand, have slipped to 8th spot in the points table with just 3 wins in 10 matches. This was also England’s first series loss under Stokes-McCullum leadership.
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