There are two ways to look at England's 246-run defeat at the hands of India in the second Test in Visakhapatnam.
The first is to be encouraged by — whatever the margin says — an honourable defeat. England were 80 for five in their first innings on Day 2 of the Test, in reply to India’s 455.
For this match to have gone a little beyond lunch on the Day 5 from that position is a victory of sorts. And until the final morning, England batted with a dead-eyed resolve that suggested they might, just might, save this Test.
If Alastair Cook had not perished off the last ball of Day 4, who knows how much deeper England would have gone into the last day. The disconsolate look on his face as the review confirmed the on-field decision, revealed just how important his batting is to England’s cause in these conditions.
More from India v England:
• Second Test reaction: Virat Kohli: India's bowlers took advantage of England's 'lack of intent' once openers fell
• Dileep Premachandran: Quality of Kohli and Ashwin has India cruising to Test victory against England
• Osman Samiuddin: England should not draw too many conclusions from drawn first Test in India
James Anderson returned earlier than expected and provided further evidence — if any is still needed after 467 Test wickets — that he long ago evolved far beyond a mere conditions bowler.
Stuart Broad, who is an injury doubt for the third Test, bowled as well as he has in India in the second innings, with both purpose and smarts.
In this picture, Haseeb Hameed is looking increasingly like the answer to at least one question that has vexed England for years now, that of a partner for Cook. He only scored 38 runs in the entire Test but for every one of the 270 minutes he batted, he looked as assured and secure as any of the openers England have tried in the last four years. He can consider himself unfortunate in both dismissals.
Jonny Bairstow and Ben Stokes both got runs in the first innings, the latter’s 70 more important given the problems he has facing spin.
There are three Tests still to go, though teams rarely come back to win a series in India after going one down. Fortunately England are one of the very few to have done so, and did on their last tour in 2012/13.
The other way to look at it, though, is as a depressing inevitability, that it would only be a matter of time before India’s adeptness at home manifested itself. This is, after all, yet another English defeat in conditions that aid spin and exposed a vulnerability this side is yet to correct.
How much progress, for instance, can be seen between their performance in Visakhapatnam and those in their defeats to Pakistan last year in Dubai and Sharjah? England fought hard in the UAE. They almost won the first Test. They almost saved the Test in Dubai. They bossed the first two days of the third Test in Sharjah. They lost the series 2-0.
On numbers, England’s two leading spinners have taken more wickets after two Tests than India’s (Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali have 20 wickets between them, Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja 17).
But as crucial a statistic around these parts for a spinner is the run-rate — both Rashid and Moeen are going at over three per over, while Ashwin and Jadeja are well under three. The cost at which England’s spinners have taken wickets is untenable in India, the UAE or Sri Lanka.
In these countries, building pressure on batsmen is how wickets are taken, not in return for gifting boundaries. That was a problem in the UAE, when Moeen and Rashid both went at over four an over and it continues to be an issue.
And while England may have found a replacement for Andrew Strauss as opener, at least one spot in the middle order is still proving problematic. Ben Duckett has six scores of under 20 in his first seven Test innings and right now looks every bit as shaky as Gary Ballance started looking a while into his career.
In the medium-term, meanwhile, England’s scores across the UAE (last two Tests), Bangladesh and India now read: 242 and 312, 306 and 156, 293 and 240, 244 and 164, 537 and 260 for three declared, 255 and 158.
It does not read like a disaster admittedly but neither does it overwhelm. It depends, in fact, on which way you choose to look at it.
Series schedule
• First Test Match drawn at Rajkot
• Second Test India win by 246 runs at Visakhapatnam
• Third Test Saturday-November 30, Mohali
• Fourth Test December 8-12, Mumbai
• Fifth Test December 16-20, Chennai
• Three ODIs begin from January 15, 2017
• Three T20Is begin from January 26, 2017
Follow us on Twitter @NatSportUAE
Like us on Facebook at facebook.com/TheNationalSport
