England vs India 2018: Biggest disappointments in the series so far

England-India 2018 will go down as one of most riveting series in the recent history of Test cricket. Each team has been dominant over the other at certain points of time as the series went on. Except for the Lord's Test where India was humiliated, all the other matches produced relatively good contests between the bat and ball.

While the series as a whole exceeded or at least has met the hype that it has created before its start, the same cannot be said about the individual performances of the people involved. Some players have given a good account of themselves while few others have failed to deliver big time in this series.

Here are the 5 of the biggest disappointments from this series.

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#6 Hardik Pandya

Batting or Bowling All rounder?

Hardik Pandya, without any doubt, is a talented cricketer and a rare gem that India has been looking for so long. In a short span of time, he was being compared to the great Kapil Dev which has put a lot of undue pressure on the young man.

In the current series against England, Pandya has been inconsistent both with the bat and ball. He did come good in the third Test that the Indians won with his brilliant spell but did nothing noteworthy apart from that. If he wants to be a permanent fixture in the longer format of the game, those efforts will have to be repeated again and again to get some confidence.

But for now, it is clear that both the team management and the man himself are not exactly sure about his role in the team.

#5 Ajinkya Rahane

Not been the same player he once was.

Much was expected out of Rahane in this series. After all, he has been the most reliable and consistent batsman for India playing in the overseas conditions in the past. But, he couldn't live up to the expectations that he has created for himself and will be disappointed with his output in the series.

Ajinkya Rahane did score a couple of half-centuries in this series but has struggled big time even in those innings. The chances may be running out for the deputy skipper if he continues with his indifferent form.

#4 Jonny Bairstow

Not been a good series for him.

Jonny Bairstow came into this series with a rich vein of form and brilliant run with the bat in 2018 in the One-day international format. He was expected to bolster the already strong English middle order but couldn't reproduce the same purple patch in this series.

To add to his misery, he sustained a fractured finger while keeping and has not kept wickets since then. His place might be in danger if he doesn't perform well as Jos Buttler has made a strong comeback to the Test format.

#3 India's Openers

They failed to capitalize on starts.

The Indian openers have always struggled to give the team a good start in the past, this series also has been no different. While they have marginally fared well when compared to their England counterparts but that is not enough to win a series overseas and have to be much better than that.

When the selectors decided to drop Murali Vijay midway, it was evident that they are looking for options and with Dhawan not getting any younger, this could be his last opportunity in the Test format. Rahul, on the other hand, has proved himself in the past but with his talent, he will be expected to deliver every time he goes to bat.

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#2 England Openers

England struggle with top order continues

The situation of England's top order is similar to that of India's, but the main cause of worry for the team is that there has been no stable opening partnership for them since the Cook-Strauss combination in Test match cricket.

With Cook announcing his retirement at the end of the series, it is going to be an uphill task for England to find a stable opening partnership. And Keaton Jennings should consider himself lucky given the fact that he has been given repeated chances even after failing to perform.

#1 Joe Root

Not the Joe Root we know

Joe Root is having one of his worst series as a Batsman. He always scores heavily against India from his debut innings and was expected to lead from the front this time around too after the twin centuries he hit in the One-day internationals that preceded the Tests.

But that was not the case as he struggled against this quality Indian bowling attack and gave away his wicket without making any substantial contribution, unlike his counterpart.