half the world away.

after a truly remarkable and successful summer for the english cricket team, they headed to india knowing they had the edge over their rivals - unbeaten after four test matches and five one day internationals, it was clear to see that for the first time in a while, england could fly to india with confidence: if anybody knew how to beat india, it was england - they had become experts in it over the summer. it was confirmed before the start of the five match odi series, that india would be without superstars sehwag and tendulkar. despite proving his fitness in the champions league twenty20, first choice spinner harbhajan singh, who missed a majority of the summer, was left out of the selected squad. this came as a surprise to many as in indian conditions, harbhajan would have expected to shine. ashwin and jadeja proved more than worthy of their places in the side.

the england team flew out in early october - the squad seemed to have the perfect balance between youth and experience - determined to put right the wrongs that occured on their last tour of india, all the way back in 2008. the tourists were beaten 5-0, with the two final games of the series postponed due to the terroist attacks in mumbai. despite such a good summer in test cricket, the shorter formats of the game still troubled england. both ODI series earlier on in the year had been won by the home side but it was clear to see there was a lot of improvement still to be made.

after two weeks in india and two victories for the tourists in the warm up games, the series was finally underway in hyderabad. india captain m.s dhoni had won the toss and elected to bat. after a slow start by the indians, england's bowlers could have been forgiven for being reasonably pleased with their efforts. with india 123-4 with nearly thirty overs gone, the formidable dhoni came to the middle. his explosive partnership with raina helped set india on their way to a challenging total. the final overs were dominated by dhoni and raina/jadeja, destroying finn and bresnan's respectable bowling figures. india set england a tricky but not impossible, target of 301 to win. this would mean scoring at just six runs an over but in modern one day internationals, good sides are expected to successfully chase down such a total. england crumbled, with alastair cook the only batsman to record a decent score of 60. a flurry of wickets in the middle overs meant england were all out for 174 in 36 overs - made even more disappointing when you consider the talent in the england line up: trott, pietersen, bairstow to name a few. india's spinners ashwin (3-350 and jadeja (3-34) did the majority of the damage. against india in their home conditions, you know you will always have to chase 300 or around that - england did not look close to the threatening india with the bat. seamers praveen kumar and vinay kumar also impressed, both picking up a wicket and bowling tightly.

onto the second ODI in delhi and this time, it was the england captain who won the toss and chose to bat. england got off to the worst start possible as both openers were dismissed without scoring. trott, pietersen, bopara and bairstow made valuable contributions but nobody could go on and post a huge score which is clearly necessary in a winning side. the previously under pressure samit patel performed well, adding crucial late runs but england were all out for 237. it was never going to be enough but england fans would have been confident their bowlers could make the game more competitive and they got two relatively early wickets - patel and rehane falling to tim bresnan. despite the early breakthrough, gambhir and kohli comfortably won the game for india - the latter scoring a superb century, 112 from 98 balls. dernbach and swann particularly suffered at the hands of the winning partnership as the indian crowd went wild - boundary after boundary led to tension between the england fielders. england are usually known for such impeccable fielding standards but this series, they looked inferior when compared to their rivals in the field.

england simply had not been good enough in the previous two games and needed to put in a serious performance if they were to come away from this tour with any credibility. if they were to lose this game in mohali, india would clinch a series victory with two games to spare. again england named an unchanged side and won the toss, choosing to bat first. cook was out cheaply leg before to vinay kumar and after a quick burst from kieswetter, who was bowled by part-time bowler kolhi for 36, england were under pressure at 53-2. luckily for england, a steady partnership between trott and pietersen gave england a lifeline. pietersen looked in fine form before being dismissed lbw by jadeja but samit patel, who had been promoted up the order, gave england a real chance with 70 from just 43 deliveries. the ever consistent jonathan trott finished on 98 not out - proving why he is in the team, the statistics don't lie. trott is england's leading run scorer in ODIs this year and to drop him from the team, would be madness. 'slow' he may be and his strike rate may not be as impressive as other international batsmen but with the likes of pietersen or kieswetter hitting big boundaries, there is no reason for trott to change his game drastically - the 'anchor' role is crucial in a successful one day side. for the first time in the series, england had posted a respectable batting score and gave india their first real challenge - finally the bowlers had something to bowl at, a score they could feel confident defending. steven finn was the pick of the bowlers and continued his great form picking up figures of 2-44 from 10 overs. sadly it wasn't to be for england. another poor fielding display, combined with average bowling led to another england defeat, this time by five wickets. wicketkeeper kieswetter had a particularly bad day: dropping gambhir and kolhi before failing to run out jadeja - carelessly kicking the stumps. young rahane was the stand out performer for india, falling just short of a century. the ever dangerous dhoni and jadeja secured the winning runs with four balls to spare.

after that painful defeat in mohali, alastair cook decided to make a couple of changes for the fourth match of the series, with england now only playing for pride, hoping to avoid a whitewash. graeme swann was left out of the team to give scott borthwick a chance and the previously uncapped stuart meaker, replaced jade dernbach, who was particularly expensive in the last game. england again won the toss and elected to bat but they couldn't replicate their batting performance from the previous. all out for 220 was unlikely to win you the game - cook himself admitted after, that england were 40/50 runs short - tim bresnan top scored with an impressive 45 after coming down the order. the indian spinners shared five wickets between them with the man on debut, aaron, picking up three.
finn and meaker grabbed early wickets, putting england in a decent position but virat kholi and suresh raina took the game away from england. india had won by six wickets and england were facing the possibility of a whitewash. 5-0 india would not be flattering towards the hosts as england themselves would admit they had been well and truly beaten. one of the only positives from the tour is the form shown by steven finn. in conditions that were thought not to suit him, finn has been easily england's best player, earning praise from management and fans alike - he's bowled well and quickly, consistently hitting 90mph and unlike many of the other england players, he's fielded well in all five matches too. will he be in the side when james anderson and stuart broad are available? who knows - but he's done all he can for now: nobody can doubt his passion and commitment to the england team.

kolkata was the setting for the last one day international - england again winning the toss, the toss being england's only victories in a miserable series. cook put india into bat in front of a small crowd at eden gardens. india's innings seemed to stutter at first, they lost wickets at crucial (as england had been doing the whole tour) but the arrival of m.s dhoni at the crease, dented england's confidence once more. an unbeaten 73 led india to a solid score of 271.
after an opening partnership of 129, england looked well on their way to securing their first victory of the series. both openers were batting superbly - kieswetter in particular, who up until this point had not performed well - behind the stumps or with the bat. cook was bowled by aaron on 60 and what followed, was simply astounding. with the risk of sounding like chris kamara, it was unbelievable. wickets fell in quick succession and suddenly england were all out for 173. england had lost ten wickets for forty seven runs - a collapse we'd hoped not even england were capable of!

and there it is. a comprehensive, resounding and incredible series win for india. i have chosen not to go into matters off the cricket field - m.s dhoni is a fantastic and entertaining batsmen to watch but his comments about the english cricket team are unacceptable - it is not his role to verbally attack our players when goded by the press.

england have one more match to play before they fly home - a twenty20 match in kolkata. it is still important and crucial if england want to retain their place as the number one t20 side.