Surrender sums up India's slump

As symbols go, it was as stark as it was compelling. When Mahendra Singh Dhoni padded up to his first ball, leaving Tim Bresnan on a hat-trick and India 55 for six, the gap between the tourists' aspirations and harsh reality felt almost too big to be true. India's captain arrived in this country with a huge reputation. He had won every bauble under the sun and led India to the top of the Test rankings. Even his part in Ian Bell's reprieve on Sunday exaggerated, as Sportsmail revealed cast him in the role of a hero. Personal shocker But Dhoni's hopes of forging a new cricketing empire to match the two genuinely great Test teams of the last 30 years ?Clive Lloyd's West Indians and Steve Waugh's Australians have been exposed by an England side who, on this evidence, appear better suited to the job. It hasn't helped that Dhoni has endured a personal shocker, averaging 12 on one side of the stumps, fumbling regularly on the other and too often looking bereft of ideas in the field. Injuries to key players have taken their toll, too, and neither is it fair to assess India's captain without pointing out that he is one of the most overworked cricketers in the world. Yet the manner in which India, whose capacity for bouncing back from defeat seemed to be the basis of their pre-match battle cry, collapsed inside 48 overs on the same pitch that had just presented England with 544 raised the genuine prospect of a 4-0 whit wash. No doubt we will be told such visions imply a lack of respect. Ravi Shastri, the former India cricketer who is here as a commentator for ESPN, has spoken darkly of "jealousy" among English journalists, who supposedly resent the pre-eminence of the India team. But the mood on Monday, as India slipped to a second successive Test defeat for the first time since their ill-tempered tour of Australia in 2007-08, was not one of jealousy. It was of bafflement that a team who have touched so many heights, including the first morning of this astonishing Test match, when England slipped to 124 for eight could sink so low. Their task now is to avoid disappearing altogether. It will not be an easy one. Virender Sehwag, scheduled to arrive in the country yesterday following his recovery from shoulder surgery, brings with him a reputation as the world's most feared opening batsman, although England have done well to restrict him over the years to an average of 31. Zaheer Khan, who limped out of the series on the first day at Lord's and has not been seen since, remains a doubt for the third Test, starting at Edgbaston on August 10. Problems Everywhere else you look, there are problems for coach Duncan Fletcher to wrestle with. Three of India's top six in this game Abhinav Mukund, Suresh Raina and Yuvraj Singh look ill at ease against the short ball, a staple in Test cricket, while the good work done by fast bowler Ishant Sharma on the fourth afternoon at Lord's was undone by some dire stuff here. For a team who are feted for their batting to fall short of 300 four times out of four is a statistic that will drive the punctilious Fletcher to distraction. It will be of little consolation to Fletcher that India's best moment in this game, the sporting recall of Bell merely compounded England's dominance. India arrived in the country with many hopes. Being remembered as good losers was presumably not one of them.