England vs India 2018: India's highs and lows from the Test series

This was anticipated as the best opportunity for the visiting Indian team to win a Test series in England but were once again flattered to deceive as they went on to surrender many key moments at different stages of the series and in the end lost the series 4-1.

Although the series was much closer which will not reflect in the final scoreline, India would know that they were second best to England and also realise there is a huge difference between competing and crossing the line.

In a five-match series, along with the disappointment, there are bound to be some positives too along the way. Here are a few highs and lows during the 2018 Test series.

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Highs: Virat Kohli lets the bat do the talking

Kohli won the battle as he ended up scoring 593 runs and was not dismissed by James Anderson even once

Even though cricket is a team game, there is always a spotlight on “individual tussles” in any big series and one such was “Kohli-Anderson” battle especially after how the latter was so successful in India's previous tour in 2014.

Kohli, who was then starting his Test career had troubles against the moving ball and edged quite a lot outside off stump. So the whole world wanted to know if the Indian captain had ironed out his flaws in 2018.

Kohli being a great batsman grabbed the opportunity with both hands and was head and shoulders above any batsman from either side

Going by the pure numbers, Kohli won this battle as he ended up scoring 593 runs and was not dismissed by James Anderson even once. Even though the champion bowler was unlucky when a couple of catches were put down at slips, Kohli being a great batsman grabbed the opportunity with both hands and was head and shoulders above any batsman from either side.

Kohli was the obvious choice for winning the Indian man of the series award and the captain would hope to continue in the same vein during the upcoming tour down under.

Highs: Fast bowling department looks promising

Ishant Sharma had a great tour

After the South Africa tour, many experts and fans felt that this was the best Indian pace bowling combination to tour UK and they were proven right.

Time and again, the pace bowlers brought India back into the contest. It was a welcome sign for all fans of Indian cricket to see the opposition batsmen dance to the tunes, be it swing or seam.

Even though Ishant Sharma has been around for a long time now in international cricket, this was the best he has bowled.

The tall pace bowler was consistent in his line and more importantly the length because over the years Ishant had this problem of bowling it a little bit short.

Jasprit Bumrah, who had to miss the first couple of Tests, showed that he is not a one series wonder and is an equally potent bowler in red ball cricket as he is with the white ball. The slinging action makes it a little difficult for the batsmen as he is way quicker than most people think.

Mohammad Shami, after having to encounter few personal and fitness issues was India’s third seamer and he didn’t disappoint. Shami was probably the unluckiest bowler of the series after beating the bat on numerous occasions without getting the edge.

Ishant, Bumrah and Shami, along with Bhuvneshwar Kumar will give some tough time for Aussie batsmen during the Four-Test series later this year.

Lows: Openers had a horror time

The Indian openers were not up to the mark

India had more than a great chance to win the first Test at Edgbaston when they had to chase down 194. But the familiar story of messing up the chase in the 4th innings of a Test outside Asia continued. In any chase, the start is the key and this is where India was terrible in this series.

The first three Tests saw three different opening combinations and all of them failed to give the team a solid start through the series. Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul and Murali Vijay could not get used to the swinging conditions and more often middle order was exposed quite early.

Apart from the final Test, India decided to play only five batsmen in order to accommodate an extra bowler. With a batsman short, the onus is on all the five to amass as many runs as possible but the team was clearly dependent on their captain Kohli.

Lows: Team selection goes awry

Some decisions made by the team management were baffling, to say the least

Ever since Virat Kohli has taken over the mantle of captaincy, he has insisted on playing five bowling options and that meant India were going against the usual six batsmen and four bowler theory.

While the ploy of playing five batsmen will work in sub-continent conditions, it is always risky in England because the new ball is bound to nick a few early wickets and in that case, the batting depth will be crucial for teams to post a competitive score.

This is where England had the edge as their middle order put on some valuable runs while India clearly missed the depth.

Some decisions made by the team management were baffling, to say the least. Even though Cheteshwar Pujara has not had a great time overseas, he was one of the players who have a tight defence but was left out of the first Test at Edgbaston.

On a green Lords wicket, India decided to play two spinners in Ashwin and Kuldeep Yadav and in the end clearly missed an extra seamer.

The even more mysterious decision was not to play two spinners at Southampton where the wicket looked dry and even Virat Kohli said before the game that there will be help for spinners late into the game. England played two and the result went in their favour.