England starts with 1-0

 India v England - Day 5 - 1^st Test, Chepauk, Chennai

England starts with 1-0

So….as feared by most - looking at rapidly deteriorating Chennai pitch on 3^rd and 4^th day - India failed to play out the fifth day to save the test match. Barring some resistance by Shubman Gill 50 and Virat 72. First Leach removed Pujara.5 8/2. Then old fox Jimmy Anderson had some decisive blows in the form of Gill and Rahane in the same over.92/3,92/4. Followed by Pant.110/5. So within six odd overs India`s challenge, if any was lost. Root cause for India`s defeat: well obviously it`s England`s Root. Joe Root. Fantastic captains knock drove India out of the game. As India failed 241 short of England total in the first innings. So was it the only cause? No. From failing to capitalize on half chances, flooring some catches, fielding lapses, inability of inexperienced bowlers to get wickets on the placid 1^st n 2^nd day pitch. Is India going too much for strengthening the batting at no.7 n 8 and missing bowler, like Kuldeep Yadav with his wicket taking abilities? And last but not the least, most importantly gambling with spin friendly track, if not the underprepared one. If you lose the toss and not able to contain the opposition or match it with first innings total then for the last two days you have no alternative but to play to save the game by staying continuously on the back foot. Concerned ones must have taken a note of this.

Having said this, India has shown a tremendous character and self belief, when it comes to bouncing back from the defeat. Revival at Melbourne after Adelaide 36 debacle is the most recent one.

So can India fight back to remain in contention for the final berth in a Test matches championship? It is going to be very interesting to see on Saturday 13^th February onwards. Who knows even with 50% ( most likely ) home crowd back up, which Virat misses so desperately -  India may come back strongly at the same venue.