Former England great Geoffrey Boycott reckons India will have to show some mental strength and discipline quickly to avoid an embarrassing 5-0 thrashing. India lost the second test within four days by an innings.
The visitors could manage just 107 and 130 in their two innings with none of their batters managing even a half-century in the second test.
“Great teams and great players should not buckle as easily as India did at Lord’s just because the ball swings and seams,” wrote Boycott in his column in the Daily Telegraph. “The whole point of playing cricket in different countries on different pitches and in different climatic conditions is to test your technique, character and ability to adapt.
“So far, the Indian players have let themselves and their supporters down. The batting has been so naive and irresponsible, it has bordered on stupidity. Wafting drives at tempting outswingers is thoughtless.
“Test cricket is becoming a ridiculous mismatch with most teams winning at home and failing miserably abroad. India, the No 1 team in the world, have been awful in two Tests.”
Already 2-0 down, the third Test will be played at Trent Bridge, Nottingham which is one of James Anderson’s happier hunting grounds.
