New Delhi: English fast bowlers once again ruthlessly ran over India's batting lineup and became the number one Test side in the world, first time after 1979.England stamped their authority over the Indians right from day one of this series. Team effort and the desire to win is what this Team India lacks and except Rahul Dravid's two centuries, it's hard to find any other positives on this so far forgettable England tour.
England's trio of quicks has been so dominant that the much-vaunted Indian batting line-up has failed to reach 300 in six attempts now. They have the discipline to frustrate the opponents, the pace to intimidate them and the skill to get them out.
Before the tour even started, all the hype was focussed on Sachin Tendulkar's 100th international century, but the little master has dissapointed in each of the six innings in the three Tests. To state the obvious, Tendulkar has looked ordinary. James Anderson and Stuart Broad never let the little master get settled. The other senior batsman VVS Laxman also has been pretty average on this tour. He got the starts in a few innings but was never able to make them count.
Team India's batting has been so poor that in the whole series so far they have just been able to share one century stand as compared to England's nine. The side which is known for their batting and has the world's best batsman in their rank has been humiliated and has struggled to find answers to the pace and swing in England.
The way this England side has humiliated Team India, it has put question marks over many players. Suresh Raina, who has been seen as one of the brightest stars of India, has been the biggest flop show. His weakness to the short-pitch stuff has been exposed big time and with the ball swinging, this man has looked out of sorts everytime he has come to the crease.
Virender Sehwag's Test return was even worse as the Indian opener bagged a King Pair in the third Test, which raised further question marks over his comeback while he still seems to be recovering from the shoulder surgery. His body language looks out of sorts and he seems disinterested. Anyone can make out that he is not fully fit but why he was even selected for the tour is a question BCCI needs to answer.
His replacement on the tour, Abhinav Mukund, does not even look like a batsmen worthy to play Test cricket. Murali Vijay would have been the ideal man to replace the injured Sehwag in the first two Tests, but what was on the mind of BCCI chief selector only he could tell.
This is perhaps the biggest low for India since MS Dhoni took over the reigns in all the three formats and may open a can of worms for the BCCI, who got so obsessed with the No. 1 ranking that they never thought of the players who earned them that recognition.
