Nasser Hussain labels England a clueless team after losing the 4th Test in Ranchi yesterday

Former England captain Nasser Hussain claimed that England were clueless in their approach, especially in the 3rd innings of the 4th Test where they lost by 5 wickets.

With that loss, the visitors have squandered the opportunity to become just the first foreign team since 2012 to beat India on their home soil in a red-ball series.

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England’s loss yesterday was their 3rd on the trot after losing by 106 runs and 434 runs in the Vizag and Rajkot Tests. It inflicted plenty of reactions from former cricketers and expert analysts.

While some have blamed Ben Stokes‘ side for not doing enough, others claimed that India were just too good to handle. Among the former English cricketers to express their views was Nasser Hussain who beautifully explained some key pointers while speaking to Sky Sports yesterday.

Nasser Hussain feels England didn’t fight at all yesterday

During his conversation with Michael Atherton on the Sky Sports Cricket channel, Nasser Hussain pointed out some key areas in which England gave away the match. He wasn’t necessarily critical of England’s performance, stating that there is no shame as such in losing to this Indian side.

The 55-year-old explained one particular phase in which England got behind after being in the driving seat in the first 2 mornings. Hussain felt the English contingent gave it all away on day 4 and that was the major slip they underwent in the 4th Test loss.

“There is no shame in losing to this India side but obviously, like with any Test series and any Test match, you look at key areas where you let the game slip and for me, all of yesterday really.” – Nasser Hussain said via Sky Sports.

In reality, the Three Lions could have batted way better than they did in their 2nd innings. Opening batter Zak Crawley was perhaps the only one who got off to a flyer but failed to carry on in front of the lethal spin trio of Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, and Kuldeep Yadav.

Joe Root who smashed a welcome-back century in the 1st innings, was also scrutinized by the spin battery as the right-hander departed for 15 with a leg before against Ravi Ashwin. The surface in Ranchi indeed got tough to bat on in the final two innings but the English batters could have taken inspiration from Root and stuck to the crease for as long as possible.

Hussain questions England’s temperament in the 3rd innings

Following decent efforts with the bat and ball in the first two innings, England started to slip from the 3rd innings onwards. Nasser Hussain questioned England’s temperament during their 2nd innings with the bat, claiming they were confused about whether to stick or twist against the Indian bowling department.

“What could have been a 100-run lead ended up being 46 and then in your third innings you don’t know whether to stick or twist and I think England batted in that collapse 26 overs for that 37/5 which, for this side, to go just over one run an over shows they didn’t know whether to stick or twist yesterday.” – Hussain concluded.