For the visiting England side, the five-match Test series was billed as the biggest test for Bazball. The indomitable Indian side, meanwhile, was given a reminder of the 2012 contest against England, the last Test series they lost on home soil. Little over a month later, the Ben Stokes-led side looked battered and haywire in the face of a depleted Indian side which left former cricketers Ravi Shastri and Sanjay Manjrekar to take a brutal aim at England.
Given the conditions in Dharamsala, England were to feel more at home. And perhaps they did fancy their chances at ending matters on a high in the fifth and final Test match of the series after losing the contest 1-3 against India last week in Ranchi.
The tourists, sparking the 2012 repeat, stunned India in the opener in Hyderabad in January before the home team, without Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant and Mohammed Shami, roared back to win three in a row and hand England their first loss in the Bazball era.
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On Thursday, at the HPCA Stadium, opting to bat first, England did look to get off to a comfortable start at 100 for one just before lunch when Ollie Pope, needlessly, stepped out of the crease to take on Kuldeep Yadav and got stumped. Post lunch, the team suffered a dramatic collapse, losing their final seven wickets for just 43 runs with Kuldeep picking up a five-wicket haul and Ravichandran Ashwin, playing his 100th Test match, snaring four others. England collapsed for just 218 runs.
{{/usCountry}}On Thursday, at the HPCA Stadium, opting to bat first, England did look to get off to a comfortable start at 100 for one just before lunch when Ollie Pope, needlessly, stepped out of the crease to take on Kuldeep Yadav and got stumped. Post lunch, the team suffered a dramatic collapse, losing their final seven wickets for just 43 runs with Kuldeep picking up a five-wicket haul and Ravichandran Ashwin, playing his 100th Test match, snaring four others. England collapsed for just 218 runs.
{{/usCountry}}In response, India stitched a 104-run opening stand before ending Day 1 on 135 for one, trailing England by 83 runs only.
‘England need Jaiswal, Rohit and India’s bowling attack to beat India'
It was during India's innings when Shastri sparked a discussion on where England went wrong in the series as he reckoned that for the team to beat India in India, they needed the entire home bowling attack in addition to Rohit and Yashasvi Jaiswal.
"To beat India in India, England need the entire bowling attack of India's. They need a Yashasvi Jaiswal, a Rohit Sharma and a couple of others," said the former India head coach.
Manjrekar, who accompanied him in the commentary box, quickly replied saying with a smirk: "So basically they need to outsource resources."
Shastri then reminded him that following the 2012 series win, England have hardly managed to trouble India in India, let alone threaten to win a contest.
"Absolutely. And it's not new. It's been for a long time. 2012 was the last time England won a series in India and since then, they haven't even been able to tickle India, let alone win a series," he added.
Since 2012, England have played three contests in India, comprising 10 matches, which includes the ongoing series. They lost 4-0 in 2016/17 and 1-3 in 2020/21.