London: An ecstatic British media heaped praise on the England cricket team for completing a 4-0 series whitewash of India, which according to it lacked fighting spirit and now face a long walk back from the "embarrassing" defeat.
India suffered its worst series defeat in England since 1959 after slumping to an innings an eight run loss in the fourth and final Test at the Oval yesterday.
And expectedly, the British media were quick to lambast the performance of the Indian team, which came into the series as world`s numero uno Test side only to slip to the number three position by the end of it.
"India simply weren`t up for the fight. England have embarrassed them. I predicted England would win 2-1 at the start of the series. `Pompous` was probably the kindest adjective directed my way by irate Indian fans. They went quiet very quickly. And that`s because it became apparent very quickly that their beloved India simply weren`t up for the fight," Steve James wrote in his newspaper column.
"There are insufficient superlatives to describe their performance in this series.”
"By contrast England never dipped in their intensity. Their standards of fitness and fielding were so far ahead of those of the Indians that it was embarrassing," he added.
Former England cricketer and James` colleague Derek Pringle termed England`s performance in the series as an "emphatic statement of supremacy".
"Winning 4-0 in this era, against a team who still held the top spot a month ago, is as emphatic a statement of supremacy as is possible to make," he wrote.
Pringle also predicted a hostile reception for Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his men when they return home but lauded Rahul Dravid for standing tall amid the ruins for India.
"Dhoni and India will face awkward questions back home following the scale of this defeat," he wrote.
"Although they turned up in part here at the Oval, mostly through Rahul Dravid who all series has stood like the Taj Mahal amid the wreckage of their cricket, they have been beaten so comprehensively that holy cows may have to be sacrificed."
The Guardian also praised the home team, saying the Oval victory has proved that Andrew Strauss and his men can win Test matches in any conditions.
Like others, it also criticised India`s abject surrender in the series and said barring Rahul Dravid no other member of the touring outfit could take heart from his performance.
"England are a fine, ruthless team and hinted that this can be the case in any conditions; India have been a motley collection of disparate individuals, only one of whom, Rahul Dravid, can look back on the series with any satisfaction," the Guardian said.
Indian hopes of saving the Oval Test went up in smoke when Sachin Tendulkar fell nine runs short of his 100th international ton. He was adjudged leg before wicket on 91 by Australian umpire Rod Tucker.
PTI
