Image Courtesy: BCCI.tv
England tour turned out to be a sweet and sour affair for India as after losing the Test matches, they made a fine comeback to clinch the ODI series against England. They, however, lost a thrilling one-off T20 match in Birmingham to conclude the tour.
India made a promising start in two warm-up fixtures and continued their fine showing in the first two Tests. The visitors won the second Test at Lord’s but faced thumping defeats in back-to-back matches to lose the series 3-1.
The change of colours also transformed Team India’s fortunes as the men in blue registered crushing wins over the hosts in the series. India, however, lost momentum in the final one-dayer, after winning the series, and in the one-off T20.
Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who was Team India’s mainstay in the series, stressed that being a young team it is important to learn from mistakes, seeing the World Cup is just months away.
“Overall, there were many youngsters on this tour,” Dhoni said. “Five tests are tough. None of our players had played five Tests (in a series before). We did well in the first two matches, but the last three we could not do well.”
“It was important to do well in the ODIs and we did do that,” he added. “It’s important to learn from what we experienced here, at home to the West Indies and in Australia.”
Team India will host West Indies in October-November for five ODIs, three Tests and one Twenty20 match, before travelling to Australia for participating in a tri-series, also featuring England, for World Cup preparations.
