England v India: Ben Stokes' side handed back initiative throughout series - Jonathan Agnew
- Published
India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin finished as the series' leading-wicket taker with 26
The most frustrating thing about England's 4-1 series defeat in India is the tourists missed so many opportunities to win more Tests.
And not only did they not seize those moments, they actually just handed the initiative back to India.
It wasn't always about India producing some magic, it was generally poor shot selection and unforced errors.
India were probably feeling that whenever England were going along nicely with the bat, all they had to do was bowl a couple of tight overs, the mistake would come and someone would get themselves out.
Throughout most of India's victory by an innings and 64 runs in the fifth Test in Dharamsala, England were not in the game, but at 100-1 in the last over before lunch on day one, that was their moment - and they fell to 218 all out.
Similarly, they had India 33-3 in the first innings of the third Test at Rajkot before the hosts rallied to 445 and England collapsed from 224-2 to 319 all out in reply.
In the fourth Test in Ranchi, India were 177-7 in reply to England's 353 when Dhruv Jurel was dropped and went on to make a crucial 90.
Looking at Ben Duckett's shot in the second innings at Dharamsala, where he was bowled after charging down the pitch in Ravichandran Ashwin's opening over, that opened a window into the frazzled minds of England's batsmen.
He would argue he was trying to get rid of one of the close fielders but it was a brain fade, and such a risky shot from a left-hander to an off-spinner.
With these long tours where the Tests come thick and fast, there is no opportunity to clear your mind and you just face the same bowlers on repeat. So for someone like Duckett he is constantly facing Ashwin, who has got him out several times.
Tours like this wear you down but that is part of playing cricket in India. It can be attritional, you have to knuckle down at times and it may not be pretty.
But you cannot allow a team like India opportunities to get back into the game when you are in a good position, because one wicket often leads to two or three as we have seen.
'A lack of accountability'
Bazball has served its purpose. It took England from rock bottom and transformed them with a fresh mindset.
And that transformation was great, but now it is showing that it is not a one-size-fits-all approach.
The recent results speak for themselves: it is not a winning formula.
It seems there is a lack of responsibility and a lack of accountability. We keep hearing, "That's just how we play, so it's all right." But no, it's not - because winning does matter, winning is paramount.
There is pressure in Test cricket and you have got to learn to overcome it. But England are second-bottom of the World Test Championship and Sri Lanka, who are below, have only played two Tests in this cycle so far.
Losing is not just a shrug of the shoulders.
It is frustrating, but that's where you have to be accountable. If not, the fans will start to see through that.
It's all well and good taking the positives but I do hope they are more honest in the dressing room than they are externally, because otherwise they're not going to get any better.
'England face familiar questions for summer'
Jonny Bairstow averaged 23.8 across 10 innings in India with a highest score of 39
England's next Test is not until July but there will be a very similar backdrop to the summer.
There will debate around Jonny Bairstow versus Ben Foakes as wicketkeeper, questions about whether Ben Stokes can bowl full pelt and and how that impacts the balance of the side, about Ollie Pope's suitability for number three.
I don't know the answer to Bairstow or Foakes. Neither have scored the runs they would have wanted from this series but Foakes at seven has come in to bat in some very tricky situations and has really been up against it.
I see this summer as a big opportunity for this team to move on against West Indies and Sri Lanka.
James Anderson will play the first Test of the summer but I do think it is a good thing he took his 700th wicket in India and that Bairstow played his 100th Test because it just ties up a couple of loose ends.
The time will come to move on eventually, not necessarily this summer, but it's a big opportunity for England to figure these things out.
The Ashes are 18 months away but you've got to have some things in place to be able to look ahead to that series.
There are tours to Pakistan and New Zealand in the winter but there's a big gap after that.
It'll be interesting to see how England manage one or two of those transitional positions this summer.
Jonathan Agnew was speaking to BBC Sport's Ffion Wynne