It had to happen, India losing a match due to poor fielding. The fourth ODI at Old Trafford was won . . . until the tourists  were afflicted by fielding problems.

Batting first, a total of 212 was never going to be enough but it was a target to bowl at, especially in cloudy conditions and lights. Zaheer Khan cleaned up Alastair Cook’s middle stump, then Ajit Agarkar again proved why time and again selectors show faith in him. Constantly bowling bad balls and following them up with wicket-taking magical deliveries have been his trademark.

Yes, India picked up wickets at a steady rate, but they could not stop the stem of runs and this probably helped the English batsmen lower down to seal the fate of the game without taking risks.

'I am sick and tired of seeing these lapses on the field, and it's not just the so-called older players making them'

At 114 for seven,  the match was almost in the bag for India. In fact, most people I spoke to in the morning said they had gone to bed confident that the team would easily make it. But Ravi Bopara and Stuart Broad had other ideas. Anybody who saw Bopara play the World Cup would not dare take him lightly. The way he played the game against Sri Lanka was awesome. As far as Broad is concerned, he proved his mettle In the second ODI of this series. His father Chris Broad’s presence at Old Trafford was inspirational for the youngster to script a famous victory for his team.

In the midst of all these good things happening for England, India were time and again making a mess of the fielding. Ten runs saved can make the difference in closely-fought games but at Old Trafford, India gave away at least 30. The manner in which Bopara and Broad were allowed to pick up singles pushing the ball to mid-off and on with fielders placed to protect those areas was a real problem.

I am sick and tired of seeing these lapses in the field, and it's not just the so-called older players making them. Dinesh Karthik, Piysuh Chawla and Robin Uthappa were particularly vulnerable. Chawla reminds me of the bowlers who are so confident of their skills that they don’t give a damn about their fielding. Most of the guys in the Indian team are slow and have weak throwing arms from the deep. The last player who excelled in both these aspects was Mohammed Kaif and the only player in the current side coming anywhere near him is Yuvraj Singh.