Former Australian cricketers Brad Haddin and Tim Paine weighed in on the grim state England find themselves in the ongoing Test tour of India.
The Three Lions started the tour with a 28-run victory in the opening Test in Hyderabad. However, they failed to build on it and lost the next three matches in Vizag, Rajkot and Ranchi to concede the series.
Having been bundled out for 218 on Day 1 of the fifth and final Test in Dharamsala, the Ben Stokes-led side is now staring at a 4-1 series defeat.
After losing the series in Ranchi, Stokes said the scoreline doesn't reflect how competitive the series has been while also adding that England haven't been 'pushovers' like some other teams on Indian soil in the recent past.
Reacting to Stokes’ remark, Haddin called it a bit of a 'sledge'. While Hadding praised Stokes’ captaincy in the series, he pointed out that this Indian team isn't at its strongest with some of their first-choice players missing.
"It sounded like a thinly veiled sledge, didn't it? You can't fault Ben Stokes because he has been magnificent tactically in this series. England have got a very young spin attack in tough conditions in the sub-continent but young Rehan Ahmed, Tom Hartley, Shoaib Bashir have been fantastic and Ben Stokes deserves a lot of credit for that," Haddin told Around The Wicket.
"But he has been playing against the Indian B team because there has been no Kohli, no Shami, Bumrah got rested last Test, KL Rahul is out and Rishabh Pant is still making his way back from that accident. They are not their strongest team but it just goes to show that the depth in Indian cricket is huge because there are some big names coming into this next era of Indian cricket. Jaiswal is leading the charge; young Jurel was magnificent in the last Test as well. So India are looking very strong," he added.
In 2020-21, India had won the Border-Gavaskar Trophy on Australian soil under Ajinkya Rahane’s captaincy even though they were badly hit by injuries and without their regular skipper Virat Kohli, who was on paternity leave back then.
Tim Paine, who was the captain of the Australian Test team that lost to India at home, also acknowledged that this is a weakened Indian side.
While Paine confessed that he loves to see England lose, he expressed admiration for their aggressive Bazball approach.
"Yeah, I think Katich has absolutely nailed it. I totally agree with him and I know what it's like to be beaten by an Indian B team. Unfortunately, it happened to us on our home soil. But yes, some huge names out for India, which should have certainly helped the English. I thoroughly enjoy watching England play the game, I love the way they are going about it. I love watching them lose. Don't get me wrong but they are entertaining and exciting. They have been for Test cricket," Paine remarked.
