Ian Botham says the seeds of England's Chennai defeat were sown during their fourth-day go-slow.
'Day four go-slow cost England'
The seeds of England's remarkable defeat in the first Test against India were sown during the afternoon on day four, according to
Sky Sports expert Ian Botham.
Sachin Tendulkar and Yuvraj Singh shared an unbeaten 163 to lead the hosts to their 387 target and a six-wicket victory, in the process pulling off the fourth-highest run chase in Test history.
The Little Master, who afterwards dedicated his 41st Test century to the victims of the terrorist attacks in his home city of Mumbai, was ably supported by Yuvraj, whose temperament had been called into question after he reacted badly to England's goading in the first innings.
But despite the pair's brilliance, Botham felt the initiative was handed to India during the final 23 overs of the tourists' second innings, when they crawled along at barely two runs an over before declaring.
Virender Sehwag then smashed 83 from just 68 balls to get the victory charge off to a flier, and Botham said: "The game changed on the fourth day at lunchtime.
"England came out with six wickets in hand, they knew they didn't have to bat for more than a couple of hours, yet they came out and scratched around for 23 overs and hit just two boundaries.
"They lost everything they had gained from day one - from winning the toss to getting a first-innings lead to getting themselves in a position to put India out of the game.
"India ended up chasing 387 - they should have been chasing 430-440 in the same time and the momentum would have been taken away from the dressing room. You'd have killed them there."
Kevin Pietersen's captaincy and field placings came under scrutiny during the final day as India picked off singles at will, but Botham insisted: "It all spreads from the top down.
"England plodded their way for 23 overs to get 50-odd runs, and 6.2 overs later India have gone past 60 already. It just shows what you can do, and from that point you're on the back foot.
"It was very difficult for the captain. His new ball bowlers let him down - they bowled short, wide and got clattered - and then India had the momentum. You're not going to stop Sehwag then.
"If your bowlers are bowling long hops either side of the wicket then how do you set the field? If you're a captain what do you do?
"I've heard people muttering about the singles conceded, but my argument is it's just as well we kept them down to singles on those shots, because otherwise the game would've been over four hours earlier."
David Lloyd shared some of Botham's concerns, but in light of the recent events in Mumbai he argued there was more at stake than just a cricket match.
He said: "You could see from Sachin's interview at the end that his century was very important to him and the team, but his hair was standing on end when he talked about Mumbai.
"It's been an absolitely wonderful game of cricket and I think they've got the right result in the end."
