England v India 2014: Four villains of the Pataudi Trophy

Abject. Dismal. Pathetic. Sordid. Words would never end to describe India's meek submission to the English bowlers, yet I'm bowled over and rendered speechless after the end of the fifth Test match of the Pataudi Trophy. What could have been a promising Test series for Indian cricket turned out to be a subject of new lows.Who is to blame? It is a team affair after all. Good batting must be supported by astute efforts in the field and disciplined bowling to deliver a win you must play like England, yetI have a few people to blame. They areGautam Gambhir, Murali Vijay, 'The Virat' Kohli and CheteshwarPujara.Pessimism. Self-distrust. Mental disintegration. Cynicism. These are the words thatperfectly describe the mental state of these batsmen at the moment.

#1 Gautam Gambhir

Gambhir, who made his comeback into the side, was tentative, pokey and indecisive. The manner of his dismissals in the final Test showed pure absence of mind and pathetic reading of the game. His stay at the crease was no short of a horror movie for a batting connoisseur. He should be pardoned, though, as I believe he is still suffering from the concussion he sustained during his last visit here. This helps explain why he ran blindly attempting a single that was never there. Last of all, I never found the intention to score runs in Gambhir. He came out to survive, not score. Unfortunately, as we have witnessed throughout the history, such stints only lead to the pavilion. Gambhir is surely a talented fellow, but I fear that we might have just seen him the last time in Indian whites.

#2 Murali Vijay

M Vijay makes me smile. He appears to be doing the 'lungi dance' every time there is a catch in the slips. Sheer brilliance to sheer atrocity. Vijay scored runs in the first two Tests, thank you very much Vijay. But why did you lose your fielding form cascaded with loss of batting form? Team India were already under pressure. England were leading by over 200 runs, and Vijay managed to drop dollies just to add further pressure on the rest of the team. This additional pressure showed on the bowlers, fielders and, later, during his own batting.

A good start is half done. But the self-annihilation mode of Indian openers has generally made the things tougher for the team.

#3 Virat Kohli

'The Virat' Kohli can be summed up as the biggest disappointment of the series: 134 runs in 10 Test innings. The man who used to cross the half-century mark at least once in less than three innings - both in Test matches and ODIs – failed to cross this mark even once during the entire Test series. I always thought that it was coming, but it never came. Kohli adapted appreciably to Test cricket, taking his time to settle before going after the bowlers. His inability to judge the balls outside off-stump has raised questions about possible chinks in his armour.

We can say that he was hard done by a couple of umpiring decisions. However, he has been dismissed to similar deliveries time and over again. Kohli had his off-stump knocked off the first ball, adjudged LBW, which we might call unfair, and caught in the slips poking at the same ball. Unless Kohli finds the answer to this conundrum, his stay at the crease will continue to be short-lived. The onus lies with the batting coach to make amends to Kohli's batting technique and ensure that he doesn't fall victim to such deliveries in the forthcoming ODI series.

#4 Cheteshwar Pujara

Cheteshwar Pujara had been shaping up as the ideal replacement for Rahul Dravid. However, his exploits ran into a dead-end on foreign soil. A scratchy half-century was the best he could produce during the entire series. Pujara took his time to play himself in but failed to capitalize on the little starts he got. Number 3 position is a very important batting position. It has been held by legends of our age – Ricky Ponting, Kumar Sangakarra, Rahul Dravid and Jacques Kallis, names that have left an indelible mark on the sport’s history. Dravid's boots are too big to fill, and it's too early to draw comparisons between ‘The Wall’ and Pujara, but much has been said already about his technique and temperament. Hence, seeing Pujara falter in such a miserable manner is saddening.

These men, who should ideally have been the pillars for Indian success, became the factors behind the debacle. They created a deadly whirlpool that sucked all confidence, determination, grit and willpower from the team. But these men are capable. They need a mental time-out to rejuvenate themselves and break the shackles of mental blockage.

I hope they come out good in the ODI series.