4-1 it is then. England really had India gasping for air for the first 2.5 Tests but I reckon that is where things started to change. For England, Root going back to usual style of play at the back end of the series, Crawley's consistent 50s (though he would want to convert them to big scores), their spinners (who at point were outbowling Indian spinners) were the biggest positives. There were a few flashes of brilliance in between via Pope's 190 and Duckett's quickfire century but they didn't seem to persist with those. I feel if England had won the crucial moments of the 2nd and second half of the 3rd Test, the scoreline would have looked different. But the 4th and 5th Tests were testament to India wrestling back the initiative from them.
Stokes, Pope, Duckett and Bairstow's batting must be the biggest concern for them right now. However, I do not expect any changes in that aspect. The management have shown a tendency to back their under-fire players and I do not see that changing anytime soon.
India's debutants flourished in the series but it would be interesting to see how they fare overseas should they get a chance again. VK and KLR will walk back into the team for the next engagement for sure, so who would make way for them? Kuldeep has been the biggest plus for India (Ash and Jaddu were expected to have a strong showing anyway) as far as bowling is concerned. They also have another spinner now who can hold his bat - this added with what Axar can do too has made our lower order batting quite strong at least in home conditions.
On another note, I kind of feel perhaps 5 matches is a bit too long for a series. 2 is criminal, 3 is okay, 4 seems to hit the sweet spot. We have usually seen one team run out of steam at the fag end of the series (especially when the series is already decided). Have seen it happen during Ashes as well though I doubt it will ever be trimmed down to 4 Tests. However, the Ind-Eng or Ind-Aus series seem to be much better if it's kept to 4 Tests at max.
