India's batting performance in the recently concluded fourth test against England at The Ageas Bowl in Southampton has been rightly criticised by pundits and fans.
After the Indian bowlers dismissed England cheaply for 246, India could not capitalise and take a big lead, with only Pujara and Kohli putting up a fight in the first innings, and the duo of Kohli and Rahane giving Indian fans some hope of winning the match and levelling the series.
Moeen Ali, England's second spinner in the game, finished with 9 wickets in the two innings and was awarded the Player of the Match for his match-turning spells in both innings.
Former Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar has criticised the inability of the Indian batsmen to combat the spin of Moeen Ali, in spite of the Indians been great players of spin bowling.
In his column for The Times of India, Gavaskar said that too much ODI and T20 cricket is "ruining batting techniques". The former batting great also said that fewer practice matches to combat the moving ball has resulted in Indian batsmen failing in English conditions.
"Sure, the ball has moved much more, but by stubbornly not playing practice games, the team has denied itself the chance of getting good match practice against the moving ball.
"Then, there was the ineptness against Moeen Ali which was harder to stomach especially as Indians are supposed to be good players of spin bowling. Where was the use of the feet to get to the pitch of the ball? Too much white ball cricket with its stand and hit method is ruining batting techniques,"
He praised Indian captain Virat Kohli for his performances with the bat in South Africa and England and declared him as the best batsmen in the world.
The fifth and final test of India's tour of England begins on September 7 at The Oval in London, which will be former England captain Alastair Cook's final hurrah in Test cricket as he announced his retirement from international cricket.
