England tour of India

[Durhamfootman]

just realised that all those top edges, byes and leg byes from Pope have saved England from an innings and 100 run defeat

[Durhamfootman]

Root in trouble here

[Durhamfootman]

dead as a dodo

[Durhamfootman]

2 in 2 balls, I think

[Red Devil]

Yes, Root was plumb - very odd that he reviewed it.

Foakes and Lawrence looking the most comfortable of all the batters so far though.

Sundar finally gets a bowl

[Red Devil]

Another poor review by India off Ashwin's bowling - they really have to stop listening to Ashwin as he is awful at reviews

[Arthur Crabtree]

If England's lower order can replicate the success of the last four India wickets, then India will have to bat again.

Presume that's a kiss of death, but Lawrence has done himself a bit of good in this game, and Foakes has had an ok series.

[Durhamfootman]

initial instinct was that it had carried comfortably. Not sure why Rahane wasn't convinced that it had

it was indeed the kiss of death Arthur.

I was just beginning to think that the first England 50 partnership of the match was on the cards

[Red Devil]

If England's lower order can replicate the success of the last four India wickets, then India will have to bat again.

Presume that's a kiss of death, but Lawrence has done himself a bit of good in this game, and Foakes has had an ok series.

Foakes gone but I agree that he did ok.

Strange that Rahane and Pant weren't sure that it had carried - replays were clear that it was a good catch

[Durhamfootman]

well done Dan Lawrence. The only England player who looked like he had any sort of clue of how to play spin in this match

[Durhamfootman]

well done India

far too good for England

[Red Devil]

well done India

far too good for England

Yes, very very comprehensive in the last 3 tests

Eng look like they are just grateful this isn't a 5 test series!

[sussexpob]

Lets start with a positive; 24 hours before the series ended, England were in with a chance of drawing the series. I said in the build up that if England won a test, they'd have done well. I guess you cant let hindsight come into play too much, India just never lose at home in the Kohli era even in single tests, so 3-1 has exceeded my expectations. And England have left a few scars on a batting line up that hardly ever struggles for runs at home. Pujara/Kohli/Gill/Rahane never really got into the series to any level, so the bowlers have done pretty well.

That aside, the batting has been horrendous. So horrendous, England may need to reflect on the long time worth of some of the players in the team. Who is going to survive this series? Who deserves to?? Looking down the list:-

Zak Crawley - This winter he scored pretty much every single one of his runs in the 1st innings of the 3rd test, when India gave him pace bowlers to have a hit to. As soon as spin gets near him, Crawley looks rubbish. An average of 12 and 8 from two consecutive tours of Asia is terrible. He cant play spin for toffee, and I think judging on that wild smack in the first innings, he knows it too because he wasnt prepared to trust his own defence. Aside from 1 massive innings v Pakistan, there isnt much in Crawley's returns. An if future tours to Asia yields these types of results, is h ever going to be a long term solution for England? He's not getting dropped, but he needs to start showing some consistent quality next summer

Dom Sibley - Technique of so many moving parts, when hes on song the mess seems to come together; but when players like this in any sport start to unwind, its a tough place to me. He's had a horror winter, and personally I think its time to move on from him.

Jonny Bairstow - In a team that have played 4 guys who have kept in FC, why is Bairstow still around? He's shown for nearly a decade he isnt good enough. Its time for him to stick to LOs games

Ben Stokes/Root - Obviously no problems here

Ollie Pope - I like Pope a lot as a prospect, but I cant defend this series. I would go as far as saying he looked on par with some of the most inept batting performances I can remember, and at no stage looked comfortable. The technique was given no chance to flourish, because he just lost his mind. He charged down the pitch at times to meet the ball, but you could visually see he had no clue about what he would do when he got there. His footwork and movement at the crease was sporadic and scattered. He was simply trying a bit of everything in the hope he got lucky, but he didnt. Rubbish. I think he might be done now in test cricket for a while.

[Durhamfootman]

well done India

far too good for England

Yes, very very comprehensive in the last 3 tests

Eng look like they are just grateful this isn't a 5 test series!

I know I am

[Durhamfootman]

A little bit harsh on Pope, SP. You're right that he looks like a man struggling to get his head around spin, but I could see him at least trying to move his feet to smother the ball. Nor did he necessarily just use his feet to attack it, he tried to negate the turning ball and he seemed to keep his options open for the shot, so it wasn't just a premeditated response and I appreciated the effort he was making. Okay.. he couldn't keep it up and he has a problem with his front foot for the sweep shot which was identified by comms earlier with some excellent graphics comparing Pope to Root and the angle at their front knee when pushing the foot forward which means Root sweeps along the floor and Pope sweeps in the air, but at least the intent to try and adapt was there.

You didn't mention Foakes who I think had a decent enough series, but was always coming in with his side in desperate trouble, or Lawrence who looked the most comfortable of anyone in the England side playing Ashwin and Axar in the 4th test, but that might have been because the ball was old and tired by the time he got to come out.

Instead of rotating players throughout a tour, perhaps England should think about rotating them from one tour to the next. Some players are just better at coping with sub con conditions than others.... leave the others at home and let them rest up for series in conditions that better suit them. How many seamers did England have on tour for a series where seamers were really only needed to bowl half a dozen overs each in the first innings? I'm thinking 6, not including Stokes, but I could be wrong. They probably only needed 3. They took 3 spinners, arranged for one to go home early and ruined another one in the process for a series where 90% of overs needed spin, leaving Anderson and Stokes to be bowled into the ground

hey ho...... plenty to think about