Atreyo Mukhopadhyay
There was something familiar for the hardcore India fan in the team’s capitulation while chasing a victory target of 193 in the third Test against England. It wasn’t the resistance of Ravindra Jadeja and the last two batters. Broadening the canvas, one could see that this is becoming a trend — India following up one spirited performance in an away Test by crumbling in the subsequent ones.
South Africa in 2021-22, India were 1-0 up and lost the next two along with the series. England in 2021-22, in the series played over two trips, India were 1-0 and 2-1 up before settling for 2-2. In Australia in 2024-25, a 1-0 lead melted into three defeats in the last four Tests. Even in 2014, India had lost 1-3 in England after going 1-0 up, although there are just two from that squad in the current one — Ravindra Jadeja and chief coach Gautam Gambhir.
One can say that the context is different because India never took the lead in the ongoing Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy. They lost the first Test and came back in the second to square the five-match series, before suffering heartbreak at Lord’s. However, the bigger picture doesn’t involve such nitty-gritty. It shows that the Indian team in the last four years has failed to maintain momentum overseas and couldn’t keep the initiative after working hard to grab it.
Glowing numbers of no use
India have encouraging numbers which are of no use looking at the series scoreline. The visiting batters have racked up eight centuries and fifties each. For the hosts, these figures are five and five. The Indians have four five-wicket hauls and the Englishmen none. Shubman Gill’s team have made 311 runs more than Ben Stokes and his men and taken one wicket less. Yet, it’s advantage England.
When a team is unable to kill the contest after setting the opposition up in successive away outings in a short span of time, it reveals a pattern. This is indeed a promising bunch. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have been able to dish out those wins, sometimes when not at full strength. In Australia in 2020-21, India overturned 0-1 and won 2-1, despite most players of the first XI not available.
Among other things, this indicates a failure to handle the pressure of expectations. In England on this tour, for example, they defied formulae and predictions a number of times to play themselves into enviable positions. When the time came to be ruthless and minimise unforced errors, something snapped. The alarming part is these lapses are seen in all the departments.
Losing the moments that win the match
Be it the collapses at Headingley and the dropped catches, or the inability to snip off the lower order when your own tail disappears in no time, or errors in judgement in crunch situations like Rishabh Pant’s run-out at Lord’s, or conceding 63 extras (including 36 byes) as against England’s 30 (3 in byes) — India collectively failed to tighten the screw when the situation was ripe.
This is a new batting line-up and there isn’t a lot of experience in the bowling unit either, particularly the third and fourth seamers. This side dominating most of the 14 sessions across three Tests was an unforeseen eventuality. England could have been 0-3 down by now. But when the time came to believe that this can be done, things like setting England a target of 371 instead of 500-plus in the first Test and Karun Nair shouldering arms and getting out at a time India were wresting control of the chase in the third happened.
Even in the second Test won by India, Akash Deep and Mohammed Siraj had to take 17 of the 20 wickets and England ended up 180 short of India’s first-innings total, after it seemed at one stage that the deficit would be 300-plus. On most of these occasions, in three riveting contests in what has been a fascinating series so far, it was a matter of converting superiority into supreme command.
India came close but their best was not good enough. It’s unfair to blame the outside adulation that overflows each time this team registers a win abroad. The players have not been able to make the advantage count and succumbed under pressure when they had to overcome inner and outer demons during those short yet critical passages of play. Until they address this with their platoon of a support staff, there is no quick fix.