Editorial: Captain Cook has left India with a cricketing conundrum

Monday 17 December 2012 20:56 GMT
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With England's first Test series victory in India for the best part of 30 years, it would be good to believe that two jinxes had been lifted. The first being the defeatism often associated with England tours of India; the second England's recent team difficulties. The new captain, Alastair Cook, showed himself more than equal to the task; there were two England centuries on the final day, and Kevin Pietersen's return to the side was without disruption.

But victory was not just proof of England's gratifying recovery. It also reflected some lacklustre play by India on their home turf and the sense that the financial lures of Twenty-20 and its showmanship had perhaps distracted the players from the quite different demands of Test cricket. India will now be in the unusual position of analysing a defeat. It will be scant consolation that the best of this England side may be yet to come.

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