Covered with all manner injuries from head to toe, the strongest batting line-up in the world went through the motions, totally unrecognizable as such, with just one of the many stars hitting the high spots. Rahul Dravid's consistency failed to light up the path of others in the Test matches.
A dose of rejuvenation in the form of Ajinkya Rahane, Parthiv Patel and Ravindra Jadeja, finally brought some pep to the batting in the one-dayers. Raina, Virat Kohli and Dhoni struck late form that must have made them wonder where had all this gone earlier.
It was the bowling of the side that was a heartache right through. Just one man bore the brunt of the attack, but in the end, the workload that Praveen Kumar carried proved too much and he too had a break down.
A bowler who had never played a Test match before, went through seven of them on the trot and played as many one-dayers during four months of non-stop cricket. Rarely, if ever, has India gone abroad with such a sub-standard bowling attack. Blame this as much on the injuries as on the faulty and unimaginative selection, both back home and on tour.
Skipper Dhoni's stubborn resistance to trying out young tear-away fast bowler Varun Aaron in any of the matches was baffling, as were several of his other decisions during the course of the matches.
Varun has been timed at 154 kph consistently in just his early days and experts believe he has the makings of the quickest bowlers in international cricket. He went to England with fairly good performances in Australia but no one in the team management appeared to be impressed.
Unfortunately, Varun remained a mere mantelpiece in the dressing room throughout his stay in England. He has brought back all his hopes and aspirations back home along with his baggage. What did Dhoni have against his own Jharkhand fellow-cricketer, no one knows, but it is a sure way of killing promising young talent.
The 2011 tour of England for the World's No.1 Test team and World Cup champions was like a bad dream. It will continue to haunt Indian cricket until we turn the tables on England in a home one-day series, starting next month. There will be hardly any time for heart-searching and a worthwhile post-mortem, as the Champions League will be on us immediately. Nevertheless, those who have been part of it must have surely heaved a huge sigh of relief "Thank God, it is all over."
