England left in a spin - again

England players have been left scratching their heads in recent days as they try and work out why the side has lost form so dramatically in their one-day series with India.

After their thrilling victory in the opening game at Rajkot there was real belief among the squad as well as punters at Betfair.com that England’s sub-continent woes had been put behind them.

However, the home side have strolled to victory in the following two matches, culminating in Sunday’s joyous win in Ranchi, captain MS Dhoni’s home town.

England were skittled out for just 155 in that game, failing again to spin bowling, with Ravi Jadeja taking three key wickets in the heart of the England innings. The fact Jadeja was not generating much turn, on a relatively flat pitch, puts the technique of England’s batsmen in the spot-light

It was England’s lowest score batting first in a completed one-day international since they made 146 against New Zealand in the Champions Trophy in Johannesburg in 2009, some 68 matches ago.

So what went wrong? Well it appears the middle order struggle if the opening few batsmen do not get things off to a decent start.

Though there has been plenty of work gone into spin bowling, it appears England’s confidence is fragile and old habits rise to the surface when the pressure is on and wickets are falling.

While that puts pressure on the likes of Alastair Cook and Ian bell at the top of the order, those below them should start to take responsibility.

The performance of young rookie Joe Root, who hit 39, was a major positive, other, more experienced team-mates would do well to take not of the composure shown by the young Yorkshireman in the fourth ODI in Mohali on Wednesday.

England head to New Zealand next month, make sure you check out their T20 odds at Betfair.

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