Mahendra Singh Dhoni grumbled too much. He grumbled after winning two Tests against New Zealand. He grumbled after winning Ahmedabad Test against England by nine wickets. For him the tracks were not good enough. He wanted tracks that turned from day one and toss should be out of equation.
At Wankhede Stadium there was the desired track. Dhoni won the toss and elected to bat. English batsmen were supposed to struggle against Indian spin. Indian batsmen are supposed to great players of spin. However Indian batsmen struggled against English spin. At one time India were 169/6. At that time 250 runs looked difficult. Cheteshwar Pujara and tailenders batted well. India were all out for 327.
English batsmen countered Indian spin. They scored 86 runs more than India. In its second Innings India lost five wickets before reaching 86. India ended the day 117/7. On fourth day India were all out for 142. England scored 58 runs without loss of wicket, won the Test, and levelled the series. India had fallen in the grave dug for England.
Questions are raised about Dhoni’s captaincy. He still wants rank turners for remaining Tests. May be 10 wickets defeat is not enough. He wants Innings defeat.
Some have put the question whether Sachin Tendulkar should retire. The question should be whether selectors should select him. His defenders say others have not done well. That is not true. Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Cheteshwar Pujara have scored runs. Virat Kohli did not do well in two Tests. He has done well against New Zealand.
Some say there is no one to replace Sachin. There are many batsmen who can replace Sachin starting from Ajinkya Rahane.
Two Tests remain. The series can go anyway.
