'First admit that there’s an elephant in the room' - Aakash Chopra slams English media for hiding their flaws after series defeat

England suffered their first series defeat in the Bazball era as India defeated them by five wickets in the fourth Test in Ranchi on Monday, February 26, and took an insurmountable 3-1 lead in the five-match Test series.

This turned out to be India's 17th Test series win on the trot at home. England gave them a real scare when they overturned a 190-run deficit to win the first Test in Hyderabad. However, India, playing with a mostly inexperienced line-up, managed to bounce back strongly to win the series with a game to spare.

According to Aakash Chopra, England's middle-order failure to make the most of the decent batting conditions has cost the team the series. The former Indian opener believes that the tourists couldn't seize crucial moments in   the matches played after the first Test, leading to successive defeats. Chopra lashed out at the English media for not "addressing the elephant in the room". The cricketer-turned-commentator said that the English media is portraying that their team took India to the limit after not many had given them a chance but is not shedding light on their middle-order's abysmal performance in the series.

"England lost many ‘absolutely critical’ phases in this Test series…phases where they needed to simply consolidate their position. Phases where they needed to build on the advantage. But that’s not the narrative that sells…what sells with the British media is that ‘Nobody gave us a chance’ ‘Nobody beats India in India’ ‘See…we ran them close’. English middle-order (barring Pope and Root in one innings each) has capitulated on good pitches. Address that elephant in the room…but for that, first admit that there’s an elephant in the room," Chopra posted on his official 'X' handle.

A closer look at England's middle-order struggles

Ollie Pope scored an exceptional 196 in the second innings of the Hyderabad Test, while Joe Root smashed a well-constructed 122 in the first innings in Ranchi. Other than these knocks, there hasn't been anything near substantial as far as England's middle-order performances are concerned. Pope and Root are averaging 35.63 and 30, respectively. Meanwhile, Jonny Bairstow and skipper Ben Stokes have been far from their best and are averaging below 25.

In the fourth Test, England bagged a crucial 46-run lead in the first innings. They were placed at 110/3 in the second innings, but got bowled-out for 145 eventualluy after suffering a catastrophic disintegration. India lost five wickets for 120 runs ans were seeming to be in a spot of bother before Shubman Gill and Dhruv Jurel took the hosts to victory.

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