2014 England Tour vs 2018 England Tour-Which was better/worse?

[Global.Baba]

Obviously there is one more test to go and that will settle this debate at least in terms of the scoreline. However let us compare at the 2 series.

 

Arguments for the 2014 series

2014-Indian team was going to the 5th test with the scoreline reading 2-1 which meant we had an outside shot at saving the series.

2018-The 5th test is a dead rubber.

 

2014 England team was  lot more settled than 2018 England team with Broad and Anderson being 4 years younger and maybe a little quicker as well.Also Alistair Cook one of the best test openers in recent times was at his peak as well.

 

Argument that can work for and in fact also against 2018

Indian team in 2018 was more experienced than the 2014 team.

Rahane,Kohli,Pujara,Vijay,Dhawan,Shami,Ashwin are all playing their 2nd English tour.

Pujara,Ashwin,Ishant played county cricket in England this season 

Our slip catching has  marginally improved and our fast bowling is probably the strongest it has ever been since we started playing international cricket. The memories of watching Pankaj Singh trundling in his 2nd spell was an eyesore  2014.

The scoreline could have easily read 3-1 in India's favor.

Kohli has transformed from a good player to a ATG in these 4 years.

 

Now these positives also work against the team's performance in 2018 as well because despite all these positives, the 5th test isa dead rubber and we are 3-1 down.

 

To channel our inner Ravi Shastri, All 3 results are obviously possible in test no.5

 

If we lose the 5th test, the scoreline will read 4-1. Doesn't that mean we did much better in 2014? Now for people who argue that we were close in 2 out of the 3 tests we lost this series so far,isn't that the same argument that the team management comes up with. I mean don't we call bs on  this "process" and "results don't matter" crap these guys try to come up with?

 

If we draw the 5th test, the scoreline will be the same as 2014. Now despite all the buildup and bravado, what is the point if our scoreline is still the same?

 

If we win the 5th test the scoreline will read 3-2 which is obviously a improvement over  3-1-1. After,3 back to back debacles vs England in 2011,2012(India tour of England) and 2014, we were able to convert 1 draw into a win and that too will obviously come in a dead rubber? 

 

Also the squad that was selected is pretty good for the most part., I don't think apart from Thakur there was a single questionable selection in this squad.In 2014 we felt it was a learning curve as most of these players were just starting out. However by the next England series most of them will be done,so good chance we will be playing with a lot of newcomers by the time we tour again.

 

Yes, in 2014 we squandered a 1-0 lead after 2 tests and the captaincy was atrocious but I personally think 2018 was a bigger disaster.I think we squandered the golden opportunity of absolutely demolishing England. I know most of what I wrote has been said on here in some form. However, the whole idea that we have entered some golden phase is a myth. The team lacks direction. That is dangerous because we are not even developing any backups or giving youngsters a chance. I fear we may hit WI level rock bottom soon if this continues once the downfall starts.

 

 

 

Edited September 4, 2018 by Global.Baba