England vs India 2018: 3 reasons India lost the series
For long periods of the fourth Test, it looked like it was the Indian side who were on top of the hosts and hunting down a win to level the series. But by the end of the fourth day, everything had changed, as England had won the match by 60 runs and thereby taken an unassailable 3-1 lead in the 5-match series.
This was similar to the First Test, where India looked poised to win before collapsing in the fourth innings to give the hosts the 1-0 lead. So the question is, why did India lose a series that was there for the taking?
Here we take a look at the three major reasons for India's failure in England.
#3 Failure of the openers
Opening turned out to be India's Achilles' heel in England. Throughout the course of the series, the team management tried multiple variations of Dhawan, Rahul and Vijay. And unfortunately, all of them failed.
Generally one of India's strongest positions, the openers seemed incapable of putting up a big score or a partnership in English conditions. This will be a reason for worry for the Indian camp keeping the upcoming World Cup in mind.
It might be worth giving the 18-year-old Prithvi Shaw an opportunity in the fifth Test. Shaw is considered the future of this Indian team but that does not mean that he cannot contribute to their present as well.
#2 Over-reliance on the middle order
The majority of India's runs in the series were scored by the middle order batsmen. In truth, only four batsmen managed to make any meaningful contribution to the team - Virat Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane and Hardik Pandya. And only two of them managed to score a century on the tour.
Compare this to England, who were saved by their lower order on multiple occasions. The fourth Test is a prime example of this. In both innings' England found themselves in trouble, in their first innings they were 86/6 and 122/5 in the second innings. But both times their lower order managed to rescue the team as they finished with 246 and 271, respectively.
In contrast, India collapsed from comfortable situations both times they were out to bat. In their first innings they were 181/4 but could only manage 273. And then they went from 123/3 to all out for just 184 in the last innings.
Clearly, the lower batting order of England played a huge role in them winning the series with one Test to spare.
#1 Inability to handle pressure situations
There were two Tests in this series that could have easily gone either way - the first Test at Edgbaston and the fourth Test at The Ageas Bowl. Both times India looked set to win and both times they somehow failed to do so.
At Edgbaston, it looked like a done deal. Chasing a paltry 194 to win, India had 5 wickets in hand with just 82 runs left to make. Virat Kohli was at the crease with Hardik Pandya still to come. Indian fans could not have been blamed for thinking that the result was a foregone conclusion. But they could not have predicted the batting order collapse that was to come leading to England winning the Test by a comfortable 31 run margin.
The fourth Test at The Ageas Bowl was a little trickier. India were chasing a respectable 245 on a pitch that was clearly helping the bowlers. But after a 101-run partnership between Kohli and Rahane, it looked like India would be levelling the series.
The fact that the pitch was acting like a subcontinental wicket should have helped the Indian side. Except that it did not and India lost their last 7 wickets for 61 runs, handing the hosts a 60-run victory.
Both matches could have been easily won by India if they had just delivered when it mattered the most. Unfortunately, they did not and England won the series 3-1 with one Test to go. The result could have been so different, but Indian nerves failed at the wrong time.