Down 1-3 with the series having slipped from their hands, England are playing for pride in the fifth Test against India in Dharamsala.
However, the visitors find themselves in dire straits, having been bowled out for 218 on Day 1 of the series finale.
In reply, India raced to 135/1 at the close of play on Day 1, riding on openers' half-centuries. While Yashasvi Jaiswal for 57, skipper Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill walked back to the dressing room unbeaten on 52 and 26 respectively.
The duo of Rohit and Gill notched up their three-figure mark in the morning session of the second day’s play.
During the final session on Day 1, former India cricketer-turned-commentator Ravi Shastri sparked a discussion on what went wrong for England in the series.
Notably, the Three Lions started the tour with a 28-run victory in Hyderabad. However, they failed to build on it and lost the next three matches in Vizag, Rajkot and Ranchi to concede the series.
Shastri went on to claim that to beat India in India, England needed the entire home bowling attack in addition to Jaiswal, Rohit and a couple more.
"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," the former India head coach said on-air.
Ex-India batter Sanjay Manjrekar, who was commentating alongside Shastri, replied with a smirk: "So basically they need to outsource resources."
Ravi Shastri then pointed out that England have hardly managed to trouble India in India following the series win in 2012.
"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 remarked.
Since 2012, England have played three Test series on Indian soil, including the current one. While England lost the five-match series 4-0 in 2016/17, they suffered a 3-1 defeat in the four-match series in 2020/21.
Given their position in the ongoing Dharamsala Test, England will need a miracle to avoid a 4-1 series defeat this time around.
(Hindustan Times Inputs)
