India v England: 'Tourists must discard bunker mentality after Chennai defeat'
- Published
England lost all 10 second-innings wickets to spin as they were bowled out for 164 on day four in Chennai
England suffered a bruising 317-run defeat by India in the second Test in Chennai. They now must clear their heads and press the reset button.
There were questions about the state of the pitch as well as TV umpire issues, but the tourists need to discard any bunker mentality or a feeling that the world is against them.
They are moving to a new location - the day-night third Test in Ahmedabad starts on 24 February - and, with a pink ball in their hands, it will be completely different.
The four-match series is level at 1-1 with two matches remaining. Joe Root's men must not get disheartened.
India captain Virat Kohli was a different man in Chennai from the 227-run defeat in the first Test, when he seemed subdued by his standards.
But the juggernaut has returned and he was back to his normal, deliberately abrasive, self over the past week.
We saw him sledging Dan Lawrence, questioning umpires' decisions - which he should not do - urging the crowd to be more vocal and generally being noisy himself.
Kohli may pick up the occasional disciplinary punishment, but that is the way he plays his game. Unleashing the aggressive side does seem to get the best out of him.
England must not get sucked in by Kohli, although he did look silly when he was bowled by Moeen for a duck on the first day and did not walk - so his abrasiveness rebounded on him on that occasion.
England must learn - with bat and ball
Clearly, India are vastly superior and more experienced in the spin-friendly conditions we saw this week.
I said earlier in the match that when you see a surface like that and the ball is turning significantly on the first morning, it is not good for Test cricket.
But Rohit Sharma hitting 161 in the first innings and Ravichandran Ashwin 106 in the second - albeit in a different type of situation with less pressure - showed India found a way to deal with the pitch and turn. England simply did not.
Rory Burns' dismissal on the third evening - a leading edge off Ashwin that was easily caught by Kohli at gully - is precisely the way you do not play on these surfaces.
He tried to flick it through mid-wicket when it was turning from leg to off and he was not at the pitch of the ball. It is a shot he should have left behind in England.
You would have not have seen an India batsman play that stroke and that is the kind of discipline England need to get into the game if they are to survive in these alien conditions. They have to learn - and captain Joe Root admitted as much after the game.
Despite Moeen Ali picking up eight wickets in the match and Jack Leach six, England's spinners must be more accurate.
They cannot keep serving up balls which are hit for four and have got to keep the pressure on for longer. We have been saying this since the series in Sri Lanka.
How the India spinners - Axar Patel (left), Ravichandran Ashwin and Kuldeep Yavav - and England spinners - Jack Leach (right), Moeen Ali, Joe Root and Dan Lawrence - performed in the second Test
Expect more England changes for third Test
England made four changes - only one of which was enforced - for the second Test, and I expect they will shuffle their pack again in Ahmedabad.
In the only floodlit Test played in India, in 2019, all of the Bangladesh wickets were taken by seam bowlers, but I will have a quiet wager that that will not be the case next week.
The ball will turn and, with Moeen returning home, England will have to handle the return with Dom Bess after dropping him for the second Test.
Bess has taken 17 wickets in three Tests against Sri Lanka and India this winter. Being dropped hits your confidence; it gives you a bit of a bash. So the England management have to get Bess in the right place about his game.
I suspect James Anderson, England's all-time leading wicket-taker, will return after being rested. I am sure that is why he did not play in this game, so they can save him for Ahmedabad.
I know he is 38 but did he need that length of time out? There is a week between the second and third Test, and he bowled so beautifully to help win the first Test.
Bairstow back and Burns under pressure
Dan Lawrence made a very promising debut when he scored 73 against Sri Lanka in Galle, but it is tough to bat at number three, on this pitch, against this India side.
Although I am not writing Lawrence off, as an immediate short-term option I expect Jonny Bairstow to return.
Bairstow went home after Sri Lanka and experienced a hellish journey out to India which involved a seven and a half hour bus ride to Chennai, followed by six days of quarantine in his hotel room.
It seems a bit bizarre that we are talking about that as a good option to come back and play a vital Test but, with England's policy on squad rotation, that is the way this tour is.
The question is therefore what happens with Burns, who is under pressure and does not look in great form?
Does Zak Crawley come back if he is fit after his freak wrist injury? He has not played any cricket since he arrived in India. It is not ideal.
The good thing for England is that Ahmedabad will be a complete change of scene: a different hotel room and a massive new stadium which has never hosted a game.
Root and his players have to remind themselves they are still in this series and have beaten India handsomely once already.
They need to go out and do it again.
Jonathan Agnew was speaking to BBC Sport's Kal Sajad.