India handed England their first collection defeat within the ‘Bazball’ period heralded by Ben Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum. As the 2 groups get right down to motion one remaining time within the fifth Test in Dharamsala, the Stokes-led aspect want to return house with a 2-3 collection outcome. After successful the primary Test, the aspect is on a three-match shedding streak. Former England captain Nasser Hussain fells that for all of the talks about Bazball, sitting second final within the World Test Championship desk tells rather a lot.

“For all the good things that this England team have done in making people want to watch their matches, right now they sit second bottom in the World Test Championship table and to me results remain the most important currency,” Nasser Hussain wrote in his column for Daily Mail.

“In the end, all sports teams are judged on their statistics. How they end up at the end of a season or a series. In cricket, how many runs you scored, the wickets you took.”

“This England side have provided great viewing over the past two years, too, but the win-loss ratio is the most important thing in my eyes, so they must get the scoreline versus India back to 3-2 in Dharamshala this week,” he added.

“Of course, they’ll still have lost the series, but they can then point to the third days of the third and fourth Tests, when they let things slip on each occasion, as a justification that they were competitive across the entire five-match tour. That they simply failed to take their opportunities.”

Hussain added that the ‘gulf between” India and England was huge.

“Come house with a 4-1 defeat, although, and the gulf between the perimeters appears enormous. Inevitably, it is going to really feel like the identical outdated story for England in India,” he said.

“The wheels got here off after England received the primary match of the collection in India three years in the past, however this time they need to inform themselves there isn’t any such factor as a lifeless rubber, and decide the most effective XI to win this sport – not fear concerning the future, who’s going to be taking part in within the Ashes down the road, or giving somebody a ‘go’.”