Lack of reverse leaves England burnt

It was, Ben Stokes reasoned, the sort of day when England gained nothing but "sunburn."

A flat pitch and a strong batting line-up brought home what has been clear for a few weeks: England do not have the tools to win series in these conditions. As Stokes put it: "Sometimes you've got to hold your hands up say they played really, really well." As we've known for some time, India are too good for them.

It's not that England have played poorly. For fairly lengthy patches of most games - the possible exception being Mohali, where their inadequate first innings made the result almost inevitable from the first evening - they have fought well. But eventually, in most games, the difference in quality between the sides has told.

It could happen again here. If England are unable to make inroads in the India batting early on the fourth day - and there is little sign that they will - they are likely to face somewhere around three sessions of batting to ensure they at least save this final match. If the pitch deteriorates - and there is little sign of that, either - that could prove tough.

There were some encouraging moments on the third day. There was the wicket of Virat Kohli, dismissed for under 40 for the first time in the series, earned by Stuart Broad bowling round the wicket and producing a leg-cutter that Kohli played a little too early. The figures might not fully reflect it, but Broad has been England's best seamer by some distance in this series.

There was the wicket of Cheteshwar Pujara who, Stokes believed, was unsettled by some short-pitched bowling which eventually led to him prodding at a wide one he would normally have left. "I think maybe going a bit harder and shorter did make him play a ball he wouldn't necessarily play at most of the time," Stokes said.

And there was Jos Buttler, charming a good-natured crowd by encouraging them to mimic him. And if that sounds like scant reason to take cheer, well, it was that sort of day. At least Buttler's humour kept spirits and energy levels high.

England's plans have been thwarted, in part, by their inability to gain reverse swing in this series. While they were able to generate lavish reverse at times in Bangladesh with the Kookaburra ball, they have been unable to gain anything like the same movement with the SG ball used in India. For a team banking on the strength of its seamers, it has been a killer blow.

"That's probably been the most surprising thing, especially with how abrasive the surfaces have been," Stokes said. "We've kept the ball in really good condition but they go really soft easily out here compared to the Kookaburra in Bangladesh where we managed to get quite a lot. It's probably been a little bit of a shock we haven't managed to find any."

It probably pays to reserve judgement on England's spinners after days like this. It is, after all, a surface on which the world's top-rated bowler, R Ashwin, claimed 1 for 151.

But we have seen enough of Liam Dawson to conclude that his selection has been a qualified success. While he rarely threatened, he was the most economical of England's trio and, as a consequence, was trusted to more overs on the third day than the others. Without him, India might be close to parity already and England might need to survive for an extra session to salvage a draw.

Adil Rashid was frustrating. Several times he beat the bat with sharply turning leg-breaks. On another occasion, he took the glove of Pujara before he scored and might have had him caught had he been given a short-leg. But when a bowler delivers as many release balls as Rashid, it is hard to justify the close fielders instead of protecting the boundaries. On such days, he looks desperately difficult to captain though it is intriguing that his best days on this tour have come when Saqlain Mushtaq has been in attendance as bowling coach. Either side of Saqlain's stay, Rashid has been a disappointment.

Moeen Ali bowled better. Gaining occasional turn, he appeared more willing to vary his pace and, until a poor final over, at least made the batsmen take a few risks - reverse sweeping or hitting over the top - to progress. But, having taken the only wicket in the morning session, he was taken off after one more over, given just a one-over spell in the afternoon session, and then brought back once the fourth-wicket partnership had taken root. It was puzzling captaincy.

Alastair Cook didn't enjoy the best of days. As well as dropping another catch - a decision will have to be made over whether he still belongs in the slips; he is dropping at least as many as he is taking - he looked jaded when chasing balls in the field where his relative lack of energy contrasted with Joe Root's. Indeed, for periods on day two and three, Root has looked the more vocal and demonstrative of the two in the field. We may, perhaps, be witnessing a natural changing of the guard.

There is no need for Cook to make an immediate decision over his future. With England not playing another Test until July, he has time to go home, reflect and ask himself if he still has the ambition to drive this team forward. If he is in any doubt over the answer, he should know it is time to quit. Root deserves the chance to settle in to the captaincy well ahead of the Ashes and neither in mid-series or mid-summer.

Root has quite enough to worry about already. As if being the key batsman in all three formats is not burden enough - and remember, after an international summer that starts on May 5 and ends of September 29, England face one of the longest tours in recent memory, starting in October and finishing in April - he is also about to become a father. If England over-burden him, they risk both compromising his individual excellence and, perhaps, burn out.

Such decisions can wait a few weeks; at least until the end of January. But increasingly Cook's resigned demeanour is contrasting with his young team's vigour. He may just need a break, but you do wonder if he still has the hunger required to deal with days like these.