An exciting end, an expected result, an inconsistent display on the field were the few things that made the India-England tie a talking point.
A few aspects of the performance of the Indian team are worrying. They need to seriously think,
1) About being clinical and finishing a task that you have started started well:- You are 236/2 in less than 38 overs.. A score of 350+ was always on the cards, but the batters threw it away.. The excuse would be that with wickets in hand, we have the license to the big shots.. Yes, you may have the license to play the big shots, but not careless shots.
2) About having a Plan B:- When the opposition is going great guns, instead of throwing the ball in and expecting the batsmen to make mistakes, Dhoni should have tried something different, for example, giving Kohli the ball. In the middle overs, when Strauss and Bell were easily getting a boundary every over, the Indians were simply going through the motions, showing that they had no Plan B.
3) About doing the unexpected:- Dhoni should have done something really unexpected right in the beginning. The fact that they had a 300+ total does not guarantee that you can easily win.
4) About getting the "little things" right first:- Running between the wickets was pathetic. The batsmen were simply not grounding their bat properly. You may be the most skillful team in the world, but these things do make a difference. I think the general attitude is that since we are great stroke makers, we can make up these runs. A match like this should make them rethink.
5) About the lack of sting in the bowling:- Another serious problem that we have is the lack of bench strength in the bowling department. This is exposed greatly when Harbhajan has an off day. The part-timers may click sometimes, but we need a bowler who can instill fear in the batsman's mind. Unfortunately we have groomed no such bowler.
6) About lack of focus:- The misfields, dropped catches(the easy ones) and missed sharp singles only indicate that the mind is not on the game and this is extremely worrying.
A disappointing result as far as I am concerned. More than the result, the performance was disappointing.
