What have we learned? We will see in India, says Cook

Alastair Cook praised his team's efforts against Pakistan but conceded that repeated batting collapses and a failure to seize vital moments had led to the 2-0 scoreline.

England slumped to a 127-run defeat on the final day in Sharjah, collapsing against the spin of Yasir Shah, Zulfiqar Babar and Shoaib Malik in a fashion that many pre-series estimates expected to happen much sooner. The result meant England slipped to No. 6 in the world rankings while Pakistan climbed to No. 2.

They had resumed on 46 for 2 with Cook and Joe Root - England's two best batsman at the crease - possessing the belief they could hunt down 284, even though it would have been far and away their best chase in Asia, but an early clatter of wickets against Yasir and Zulfiqar left them 59 for 6 with defeat inevitable despite a battling 63 from Cook.

England's Nos 3-7 made just eight runs between them in the second innings - the joint worst ever by that combination in England Test history - and it followed a collapse on the third morning in Dubai which cost them the second Test.

Cook's 263 in the opening Test in Abu Dhabi also turned out to be finished as England's only century of a series where batsmen have made starts but not cashed in.

"It's costing us dearly," Cook said of the batting collapses. "To lose four for 11 wasn't good enough and we keep doing it when the pressure is on. It is incredibly hard starting your innings out here on a fifth-day wicket against those bowlers. But for us to get better, go up the rankings and win away from home we can't allow that to happen.

"The guys are disappointed. I hate the words 'you'll learn from it' but you do, especially in conditions such as these because we go back to India and Bangladesh next winter. We'll see then whether we have learned.

"In general I thought our batting has improved throughout the series in terms of the way we played but when the pressure came on in Dubai and again here we just weren't good enough."

As well as the significant batting collapses, there were also mistakes in the field that came at a heavy price for England. They began in the first Test when Ian Bell dropped catches offered by Mohammad Hafeez and Asad Shafiq that cost a total of 188 runs while Shoaib Malik was caught off a no-ball on 40 and went onto make 245.

On the fourth morning in Sharjah the match was still in the balance, with Pakistan holding a 74-run lead with seven wickets hand, when Jonny Bairstow failed to pick Adil Rashid's googly and missed a stumping chance off Hafeez when he had 97 and he would finish with 151. Stuart Broad also put down a tough caught-and-bowled chance when Hafeez was on 113 and James Anderson spilled Shafiq at mid-on when he had 29.

"Our four seamers in particular were outstanding but the bottom line is we were just weren't good enough with the bat to repel the Pakistan bowlers at crucial times," Cook said. "Then with the ball and in the field we weren't able to take those tough half chances - yesterday in particular when the game was still alive, we had three or four chances to get Hafeez - none of them easy - but we weren't good enough to take them. I think that epitomised the series. We were there or thereabouts but not quite good enough to put Pakistan under pressure or grab that opportunity ourselves.

"I can't fault the lads' efforts. We threw everything at Pakistan for 15 days, with our commitment, our thought, our desire and in some really testing conditions. They've been absolutely outstanding. But it's not down to effort, it's the crucial moments and we just weren't quite good enough during those. We have to front up to it and get better."