Last Updated on 8 months by Charbel Coorey

Cricket News: Former England captains Mike Atherton & Nasser Hussain spoke about the key moments where England lost the Ranchi Test

Former England captain Mike Atherton pinpointed key moments where the team fell short at Ranchi. Speaking to Nasser Hussain on the Sky Sports Cricket Podcast in the aftermath of England’s five-wicket defeat, Atherton praised the team’s efforts but lamented a few key missed opportunities to take the series to a decider in Dharamsala.

“Given the 40 runs they [India] scored last night [on day three], I don’t think anyone really expected England to win today,” Atherton said. “WinViz had India at 95% or something.

“But I remain very impressed by the way Stokes handles himself and his bowlers, and his field settings. He’s one of those people who’s never beaten until the last ball goes down. England gave a good account of themselves and they had a sniff.”

Mike Atherton on where England fell short in the 4th Test against India

Atherton first pointed to the two ends of the first innings as key moments in the match. He felt England could have managed things better at their end of their innings with Joe Root going strongly, afterwhich those late-order runs for India proved pivotal.

“I was a bit frustrated when Joe Root was not out on 122 for example and Anderson and Bashir played two shots that left Root stranded,” Atherton said. “Bashir showed in the second innings that when he looked to stay in, he could stay in.

“If England had added a few more or given Root the chance to express himself right at the end of that innings [it could have been a different game]”.

Atherton then spoke of Ollie Robinson’s dropped catch on day three as a pivotal moment. Man of the match Dhruv Jurel, who was on 59 at that point, went on to make 90 and cut England’s first innings lead to 46.

“When [Ollie] Robinson put down Jurel on 59, they added 40-odd more. If you put those two things together, you feel England’s first innings advantage should have been somewhere around 100 and then what puts a very different complexion on the third innings, which as you know can be very difficult when there’s not much of an advantage on first innings.

“So, I felt when looking at the game as a whole, that’s where England missed their opportunities,” Atherton said.

Atherton also lamented England’s middle order. Apart from Joe Root, none of Ollie Pope, Jonny Bairstow or Ben Stokes made an impact on the game.

“I suppose England’s middle order has had a pretty bad game with the exception of Root who played brilliantly in the first innings,” Atherton said. “Pope’s pair, Jonny [Bairstow] got two 30s, but that second innings dismissal just after tea, you felt that was a bad time to get out like that, and Stokes with two single-figure scores in the game.”

Atherton remains positive on England’s effort, but Nasser Hussain believes England missed a big opportunity

Atherton was still positive of England’s cricket despite this being their third-straight winless Test series after drawing 1-1 in New Zealand and 2-2 in the home Ashes. He believes that this tour has not been the kind of shambles we saw in Australia soon before Stokes and McCullum took over.

“When we were down-under in Australia for the last Ashes, I felt that was a bit of a schemozzle,” said Atherton. “The tour unravelled… England got their tactics and their strategy wrong. They played timidly and meekly, and were just smashed off the park.

“I don’t really feel that about this tour. I feel they’ve given a pretty good account of themselves. They haven’t done that badly with the cricket that they’ve played.”

“I don’t think they’ve done that badly at all,” Hussain replied. “There is context in both directions. India, 17 series in a row at home they’ve won, that’s how difficult they are to beat in those conditions.

“But I sit here at home and see it as a missed opportunity in as much as there is no Virat Kohli, there is no Mohammed Shami, there is no Rishabh Pant. For most of the series there is no KL Rahul, Jasprit Bumrah rested, Jadeja injured, Ashwin has to leave for a day of Test cricket.

“There were opportunities there.”

You can watch the full review with Atherton and Hussain on Sky Sports Cricket’s YouTube channel below: