Former England captain Nasser Hussain reflects on the series-defining loss against India and explains why Ben Stokes’ side can still take positives from the fourth Test.
It was another excellent Test match in an excellent Test series. England were really good today and they put up as much of a fight as they could. They took wickets either side of lunch and, when they got Ravindra Jadeja and Sarfaraz Khan, you felt it was going to be close.
Shubman Gill showed his class and his calmness, while Dhruv Jurel has just been a revelation in the two games he has played – both as a keeper and also with the bat.
England didn’t lose the game today, it was lost yesterday. What a turnaround from India after the first innings, where they got close to England’s total because of Dhruv Jurel and Kuldeep Yadav and then Ben Stokes’ side lost seven for 35.
‘No shame in losing to India’
I think India deserve credit for the way they’ve played throughout the series, to be honest, as they have been without some star names. They’ve been without Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah in this one, Mohammed Shami, KL Rahul for most of the series and Rishabh Pant.
Ravi Ashwin wasn’t there for a day in the last game, but they stood up and turned that game around too. He was there throughout this Test match, stood up and took five wickets in that second innings, bowling quite brilliantly.
There’s a long list of people that India are missing and yet they’ve managed to put in performances. You have to give credit to India, not only for the skill they have, but the mental toughness to have another home series win.
Their record at home is absolutely phenomenal, so there’s no shame in England losing to this Indian side. But obviously – like with any Test series and any Test match – you look at key areas where you let the game slip.
What could have been a 100-run lead yesterday ended up being 46. Then in your third innings, you don’t know whether to stick or twist. In that collapse, England batted 26 overs for their 37-5 which shows – for this side to go at just over one run an over – they didn’t know whether to stick or twist.
It’s the first series they’ve lost under Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes and it’s no shame losing to India in India.
Shubman Gill helped India recover from 120-5 to move into a 3-1 series lead
Positives for England?
They’ve gone out there with inexperienced spinners and they’ve both grown by the game. Tom Hartley has got better and better and young Shoaib Bashir has bowled beautifully in this game. He got eight-for in the match, with five-for in the first innings.
There have been some key moments and England have not quite been as they could have been with bat and ball. It was debated in the last game about the Joe Root shot, then he goes and gets a brilliant hundred in this game. At times they’ve not bowled particularly well, they’ve bowled loose deliveries.
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Former England skipper Nasser Hussain heaps praise on Joe Root after his record-breaking century on day one of the fourth Test against India
In any Test series, you can look at key moments where you’ve lost it, but actually, if you look throughout the series, even the game they won, they gave India a massive first-innings lead and it was because of a brilliant 196 from Ollie Pope that got him back in the game.
You’d look and say actually India probably have won more sessions in the series than England, so are deserved winners.
Bashir a new star for England?
The key as a player and a pundit is not to get too low when the wheels come off and not to get too high and upbeat when you find a couple of decent spinners. They’ve both bowled beautifully in conditions that have helped spin but not overly so, just good pitches that spun at bit.
Shoaib Bashir took two wickets in two balls during day four of the fourth Test
Bowling spin in England is completely different. That’s where Graeme Swann, in particular, deceived batters before the ball landed with his drift and drop. That is one thing that Bashir does have.
Bashir gets a lot of drop. He is tall, he has a high release point and that’s why he was picked. England did their homework in India, where you need bowlers with high release points. He has got that capability of deceiving batters before it actually lands, so that’s going to be a useful asset in England.
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Ian Ward feels England’s Shoaib Bashir is showing great character in adapting to conditions and challenging the India batsmen after taking four wickets on day two of the fourth Test
Most importantly with Bashir, and any young England spinner, is that they have a captain in Stokes that understands spin. He is a brilliant captain of young spinners. You only have to see what he’s done with his inexperienced players in this series.
Stokes knows how to captain the youngsters, so it’s up to Bashir now. He has got another game in Dharamshala, where England need to go and try and win there to keep an upbeat tempo.
Follow over-by-over text commentary from the second Test between India and England, in Dharamshala, live on skysports.com and the Sky Sports App from 3.30am on Thursday, March 7 (first ball at 4am).
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