Ben Stokes embraces the hurt as the fun stops for England

Arriving in Dharamsala, England's message was consistent, clear, and, ultimately, simple: 3-2 is a better way to lose the series than 4-1. By succumbing to an innings defeat in just over two and a half days, they somehow found a worse way to lose 4-1.

The scoreline reflects the gulf between the two sides, because that's how scorelines work, as much as England might protest. They have had moments since victory in the first Test, namely in Ranchi and Rajkot, that could have given this game a little more meaning. And yet the scale of this defeat ladles on the unwelcome context for a team that has gone beyond winning, flattering to deceive in defeat, and is now just losing.

The caveat is that no visiting team has won a series here in almost 12 years. But India, for all their quality, did not have to be at their very best for most of this series. Since defeat at Hyderabad, they have not needed to seize all the 50-50 moments that presented themselves to restate their dominance, even with superstars absent and debutants in each of the last four Tests.

That was until these last three days at the HPCA stadium. Their skill and superiority dwarfed even the Himalayas. Most damning for England is that the last 48.1 overs of the series was a gross mismatch. They were bullied, roughed up and, at their most vulnerable, several individuals were forced to hand over a few of the principles they have tried so desperately to hold dear these last eight weeks.

Ben Duckett, who had not come down the pitch to the spinners all series, and had never done so against Ashwin in any previous meeting, decided the second over was the time to break the habit out of desperation. He charged, yorked himself, bat swishing past the outside of the ball, which rattled his off stump.

Zak Crawley, in the midst of a Jasprit Bumrah-enforced scoreless stop, could not produce the sort of counterattacking burst that had made him England's most reliable run-scorer on this trip. A tentative push around the corner to backward short leg - brilliantly taken by Sarfaraz Khan - gave him a 16-ball duck.

Ollie Pope, praised by Rahul Dravid for the best "exhibition of sweeping and reverse-sweeping ever" after his 196 in the victorious first Test, then produced the worst example of either. A steady decline since that innings culminated in a panicked reaction to a claustrophobic close-in field, as he took on a delivery that may have bounced more with Ashwin's over-spin but was certainly too short to be swept.

Just like that, England's top three runscorers coming into this final innings were done and dusted within 56 deliveries for just 36 runs. From then on, an under-firing middle order played to type, with some additional bum notes.

Jonny Bairstow peppered long-on before being trapped in front by Kuldeep Yadav, though not before starting an argument with Shubman Gill. It led to the now 100-cap batter asking Gill how many centuries he had made "full stop". Four is the answer, with eight more needed in the next 10 years to match the 34-year-old's tally.

Ben Stokes wasn't trapped on the crease this time, but was still turned inside-out by Ashwin's drift from around the wicket. The captain's average of 19.90 is the lowest of his 16 away tours and comes with the ignominy of having faced just 367 deliveries - just five more than Kuldeep, who has batted in four fewer innings. Ben Foakes lost his usually ironclad sense of self, bowled attempting a slog-sweep, handing Ashwin a ninth dismissal to mark his century of caps.

The end, in particular, carried a unique sadness. Two veritable English greats in Joe Root, defiant for 84, and James Anderson, hours after notching 700 Test wickets, together as the final pair. The two survivors from 2012 in Nagpur, when Root, then on debut, was instrumental in fashioning a draw in the fourth Test to seal India's last home series defeat.

Ever since that success, Root and Anderson's experience over in India has been a succession of physically wearing, emotionally taxing tours. Ones that have not just made English teams reconsider what they are about, but put their entire professional system in the dock.

The difference this time is that the County Championship has not yet been served its papers. But an ethos that, for a period, brought the fun times back to English Test cricket, has now gone three series without a win. A style that lends itself to entertaining play has, since the start of 2023, entertained opponents more, winning just five of 13 Tests.

While positivity has radiated in press conferences, much to the bemusement of local journalists unfamiliar with the "everything is awesome" tact, and the building frustration of England fans, Stokes finally let the shutters up on Saturday afternoon. The introspection and annoyance behind closed doors was brought into the public domain: "If we weren't disappointed, if we weren't frustrated at how the series has ended up, I don't really know what other emotions you could have."

With no next match to move on to until July 10 against West Indies at Lord's, the England captain asked his players to channel the pain that they are currently feeling - both from grafting for so long and coming away with nothing and, worst of all, having to wear the ignominy of crumbling in precisely the manner that they had set out avoid. He certainly will.

"Use it as fuel," Stokes urged. "I've been through a lot of ups and downs--that's what playing 100 Test matches throws at you. I'm making sure that I use those down moments that I have had to maybe work even harder than I thought I was."

It has been a damning 13 months for English cricket. Since the last six months of 2022, which began with Stokes and McCullum coming together in such spectacular fashion, and included that winter's T20 World Cup win, things have taken a turn. The Test side fumbled a first series win in New Zealand since 2008, then a shot at reclaiming the Ashes for the first time since 2015, and now nurse a defeat against India that looks on paper to be no different to their previous dud efforts. In between whiles, too, there was a humiliating defence of the white-ball team's 50-over title.

Transitions are incoming across both formats. The difference is, while the white-ball side faces an overhaul of youth after this summer's T20 World Cup, the red-ball side must embark on an evolution with many of the same faces. Thus the onus is on those involved over the last two months, many of whom have been ever-presents of the Stokes-McCullum regime, to dig deeper.

It was fitting that, after all the critiquing of how England have gone about things on this tour, Stokes grabbed the nettle on a topic that has been a nuisance to many.

"The media name Bazball - everyone says 'what is it?' In my opinion it's wanting to be a better player. In the face of defeat and failure, Bazball will hopefully inspire people to become better players and become even better than what we are."

Of all the definitions ascribed to a term that had previously been rejected by the England dressing-room since its inception, this is the one they must embrace.