At various points during the course of these five Tests, India did look like a team that could win, but those moments begged to be seized, especially by the Indian batsmen, who just didn’t seem up to it. It has been ordinary all right, with the exception of their captain Virat Kohli, the best batsman across the two sides, and the batsmen must cop the bulk of the blame.

So what does the future hold for this Indian team? While the pace bowlers have emerged as the spark, and after the South Africa evidence, can be trusted to deliver in favourable conditions, it is the batting that has let the team down for the second straight away series.

India might still be unsure of who their go-to wicket-keeper is, even though Pant finished with 162 runs from three games at 27 and may have put up a claim for the spot for the time being. Dinesh Karthik (21 runs from two games) looked lost with the bat, and both he and Pant struggled behind the stumps – India conceded 106 runs as byes in five Tests.

And Pandya, who picked up 10 wickets and scored 164 runs in four Tests, lost his place in the fifth, perhaps indicating that he no longer enjoys the captain’s full confidence.

With the tour to Australia coming up in two months’ time, India have the batting order to fix. It must start with the openers and then end with Pujara and Rahane. Yes, they didn’t fail altogether, but they faltered often. There are few better batsmen in world cricket than Kohli, but he can’t do it alone.

India came to England as a batting-heavy side that had a bowling unit on the rise. They leave as a solid fast-bowling side with a rickety batting line-up. Not good if world domination is the plan.