England won’t just be looking to end a sequence of 10 Tests without a win when they face India in the third Test at Southampton today, they will be aiming to restore their pride.
Monday’s 95-run defeat in the second Test at Lord’s, a result that put the tourists 1-0 up in the five-match series, came after England had won the toss on a pitch that might have been made to captain Alastair Cook’s specific instructions and against an India side who had not won away from home in 16 previous Tests.
Whether it was Bhuvneshwar Kumar bowling like a classic seamer or opener Murali Vijay’s invaluable second-innings 95, India excelled in disciplines that were once common to every county, let alone England, team.
And then compounding the ‘role reversal’ was the way the match ended, when several England batsmen succumbed to a bouncer-trap baited by Ishant Sharma who promptly took seven for 74 as India won only their sixth Test in England.
Significantly, the only player who was told there was no way back at international level after England’s 5-0 Ashes thrashing in Australia was Kevin Pietersen, England’s all-time leading international run-scorer.
But if bringing back Pietersen won’t be a cure-all for England’s ills, what the preceding 1-0 series defeat at home to Sri Lanka and the ongoing campaign with India have both demonstrated is that he is not the sole source of their woes.
