Team India are 1-0 up in the ongoing five-match Test series against England. They won the second Test at Lord's by 151 runs and their performance on Day 5 of the match has convinced former England captain Michael Atherton that India would have won the first Test if the rain had not spoiled the last day.
On Day 5 of the first Test at Trent Bridge, India needed 157 to win with 9 wickets in hand. It was an easy ask for the visitors with 98 overs left but rain washed out the day.
Atherton, in his column for the Telegraph, wrote that India removed any doubts about how they would have won the Nottingham Test.
"Although home sensibilities will focus, inevitably, on England's final day performance on Monday, which was by far unintelligent and then limp, it was India who left an indelible impression," Atherton wrote.
"The ferocity of their play, their will to win, and their skill to carry them through difficult moments, should have removed any doubts about how the Nottingham Test would have finished but for rain. To all intent and purposes, India should be 2-0 up," he added.
England are currently in trouble after losing the second Test which exposed their fragile batting unit. They don't look the same force even at home in the absence of Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer, Chris Woakes, and Stuart Broad.
"Over two matches, England have competed for long periods, and this without some serious cricketers - Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer, and Chris Woakes absent for two Tests and Stuart Broad for one. They have the benefit of two of their greatest cricketers, in James Anderson and Joe Root, and in Test cricket, great players can make up a lot of ground for limitations elsewhere. All is not lost," he further wrote.
"In the short term, given the injuries and lack of domestic first-class cricket to provide alternatives, there is not a great deal to be done. They will (and should) make an alteration at the top of the order if only to reiterate the principle that performance matters," he signed off.
(With the Telegraph inputs)
