Virat Kohli, Umesh Yadav, death bowling: 3 lessons for India from final ODI loss

India had already won the series but England produced a much better performance in the final ODI and emerged with a 41-run win over a surprisingly tepid India.

Joe Root led the way for the hosts with a sparking 113 from 108 balls to help England make 294, their best score of the season by some distance. In reply, India could only manage 253 and that was only because Jadeja and Umesh Yadav added 44 for the last wicket, of which Jadeja made 43.

Here are three thoughts we had about India after the game:

Virat Kohli should just forget this England tour ever happened

Kohli’s average of 13.40 in the Test series may have surprised everyone but his average of 18 in the ODI series, with a top score of 40, is even more shocking. In the final ODI, he fittingly fell to James Anderson, his nemisis on this tour. Once again it was the outswinger outside off and once again Kohli could not resist a nibble.

50-overs is a format Kohli bestrode like a colossus over the last few years. If you had bet he wouldn’t have made a single fifty – his career average is 51.24 including his lean run in this series – you could probably have retired on your winnings. You’d also be crazy.

Yes, Kohli does need to sort out where his offstump is again and learn how to cover the swing when the ball is doing a bit, but his talent and determination did not disappear just because he travelled to a different country. Every player goes through a tough time or two in their career – just ask England captain Alastair Cook.

Kohli also doesn’t have to worry about the swinging ball in the near future. India next take on the West Indies in India and a return to the placid batting tracks of home should be enough to get Kohli back on track. He will also get some well deserved time off since Royal Challengers Bangalore are not in the Champions League T20, which should help clear his head.

“A a player you have to move on very quickly,” Wasim Akram said on TV after the match. “He [Kohli> is still very young. There is no need to worry.”

India’s old failings return

India’s bowlers were challenged for the first time in this series and they worryingly wilted.

In the fourth ODI, Moeen Ali demonstrated that India’s spinners struggled when attacked, and in this game Joe Root and Jos Buttler showed they had learned that lesson well. On a pitch that did offer some turn, Root was particularly savage on Ravindra Jadeja, ransacking him for 44 runs from the 25 balls he faced, including two wonderfully-timed sixes. Meanwhile Butler took a shine to Ashwin, picking up 15 runs from the seven balls he faced during the PowerPlay overs.

Together, Root and Buttler added 55 from the batting PowerPlay, with 41 coming off four overs bowled by the two spinners.

That gave England the impetus heading into the final 10 overs and exposed India’s long-standing problems with death bowling. 88 runs were conceded while just three wickets were taken. Ashwin, Jadeja and Umesh Yadav all struggled to bowl the right lengths and only Mohammad Shami emerged with any credit

Against teams with better one-day batting instincts than England, India will struggle to contain the flow of runs in Australia.

Umesh Yadav needs a run of games to prove himself before the 2015 World Cup

You have to feel for Umesh. He was parachuted in for a dead rubber and had to audition for a place in the playing XI with no competitive cricket in England. He managed an early wicket – Alex Hales hurried into a pull shot – but otherwise struggled to bowl the right lengths. He finished with figures of 1 for 46 from 6 overs, with his last three overs costing 28 runs. He was the most expensive bowler in India’s only loss of the series.

But to evaluate him on this one game would be a mistake. His pace could be a useful weapon in Australia, where the ball doesn’t swing as it does in England. Yes, Dhoni prefers to use bowlers with control and bowlers he can trust, but the rewards outweigh the risks. India should be grooming him rather than testing him.

India should pick Umesh for all five ODIs against West Indies and let him loose. Let me get some confidence and then take him to Australia for the tri-series. If he gets it right, India will have a potent weapon for the World Cup. If he doesn’t, they are no worse off than they are now.