India’s recent saga of spineless performances touched a new low as they crashed to a humiliating innings and 244 runs defeat well inside three days in the fifth and final cricket Test against England, who clinched the series with a 3-1 margin, here on Sunday.
It was yet another abject surrender by the batsman, who were shot out for 94 in just 29.2 overs as they continued their embarrassing display succumbing to their heaviest Test defeat in 40 years.
This was after England took a gigantic 338 runs lead with a healthy first innings score of 486 riding on a brilliant 149 not out by Joe Root. The series win enabled Alastair Cook and his boys to retain the Pataudi Trophy for the second straight time in three years.
While statistically, it was not a ‘Whitewash’ like last time in 2011 when India lost 0-4, but once the script took a different turn in Southampton, it had only been a case of humiliation of Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s men, who simply were not good enough to put up a semblance of fight against a rampaging English outfit, running all over them.