India had a disappointing tour of England back in 2014, and the only good thing from that tour was their 2014 Lord’s win. The other four tests were contests that the team and the fans would have looked to forget sooner rather than later.
The fourth Test against England began with India winning the toss and choosing to bat first, but that was one of the decisions that Dhoni took that did not go in their favor. India’s comeback star, Gautam Gambhir, was dismissed early. Their highest run-scorer for the series, Murali Vijay, was dismissed by a duck.
‘The Wall 2.0’ as he was known at that time, Cheteshwar Pujara, along with Virat Kohli, widely regarded as the best batsmen in the nation across all forms, were both helpless as they also were able to do anything against the high flying England attack. On the opening morning, the visitors collapsed, falling to 8-4 before a valiant 71 by MS Dhoni and 40 by Ravichandran Ashwin helped them reclaim some respectability.
Throughout the duration of his Test career, MS Dhoni has received a variety of nicknames. He has been accused of being a defensive captain, among other things. However, he made the decision to bat first in overcast conditions, having named five bowlers, in the hopes that his batsmen might withstand the incoming storm of the England bowlers. He was needed to rescue the horrific Indian team batting that was in danger of sinking for a score of less than 100 runs after his top order batsmen completely failed.
As long as he was out there to bat, Ajinkya Rahane was reliable and appealing, that is, until he drove the ball without adjusting his feet. Ravichandran Ashwin may have been India’s most assured batter before he was caught in a well laid trap as he hooked a short ball and was caught by the opposition fielder. In the end, the fight wasn’t enough from the Indian skipper and his teammates and India got bundled out for a mere 152.