Twitter loses it as India lose Southampton Test and the series

After a hard-fought victory at Nottingham during the 3^rd Test match, confidence was high with team India going into their 4^th Test match at Southampton. The ongoing grueling Test series saw India trailing behind their hosts after losing the first two Test matches. The score going into the 4^th Test match was 2-1 with the hosts in the lead. The idea, hope, and plan were for team India to level the score. Unfortunately, that did not happen.

Team India lost the 4^th Test match by 60 runs. The hope and dream that team India will stage the greatest comeback in the history of cricket since Sir Don Bradman was lost. The score is now 3-1 with the hosts winning this series.

Like adding salt to a wound was the performance of the team. During the final part of the match, only captain Kohli and Rahane were the ones to put up a fight.  The most shocking and heartbreaking moment was when the Indian batsmen fell to Moeen Ali. The bowler who wasn’t known for taking many wickets destroyed the Indian batsmen on two occasions, first with a five-wicket haul then with four wickets.

Here is how Twitter reacted:

The Good:

There are many fans who have taken this loss with respect and maturity. They have congratulated England on their win and also team India on giving it their best. Here are some positive reactions:

Fantastic test match ..congratulations England ..virat kohli an absolute standout .and for me Kumara Dharmasena was fantastic in these conditions …best umpire @cricketsrilanka @BCCI @bhogleharsha

— Sourav Ganguly (@SGanguly99) September 2, 2018

England win the 4th Test by 60 runs and take an unassailable lead of 3-1 in the five match Test series.#ENGvIND pic.twitter.com/YKknZmdRM2

— BCCI (@BCCI) September 2, 2018

From 36 for 4 in the 1st Innings to Win by so many is some performance … Sam Curran deserves a lot of the credit as do all the bowlers who have been outstanding this week .. & the catching ?#EngvInd

— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) September 2, 2018

India defeated but certainly not disgraced. Well played lads. The next time there is a five Test tour in England the players must insist on half a dozen games against county sides as preparation for the Tests.

— Ramachandra Guha (@Ram_Guha) September 2, 2018

Like with the series in South Africa, this will go down as what-could-have-been rather than what actually was. Neither South Africa nor England were as good as they have been in the past. But then, maybe, India isn't as good as we believe it to be

— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) September 2, 2018

It’s 3-1 England but India have played some excellent cricket

— David 'Bumble' Lloyd (@BumbleCricket) September 2, 2018

Haters will talk about his captaincy and blah blah but a true Indian Cricket fan and even a neutral fan will understand the value of this guy. They really know who is currently the best cricketer in the world! It breaks my heart seeing him like this ?#EngvInd #IndvsEng @imVkohli pic.twitter.com/SmwY67KDpU

— Tejaswani Srivastava (@TejaswaniSriva1) September 2, 2018

Many even praised Moeen Ali’s shockingly stellar performance. So far in his career, Moeen wasn’t known for taking huge wickets but this 4^th Test match showed a different side of him. He first took a five-wicket haul followed by 4 wickets during the last innings.

What a return to the England Test side for this guy, with nine wickets and a crucial first innings knock! ?

Moeen Ali is the fourth #ENGvIND Test Player of the Match! ? pic.twitter.com/zZXpYKiXws

— ICC (@ICC) September 2, 2018

England outspin India in England……didn’t see this coming. Mooen Ali, take a bow ?‍♂️ #ENDvIND

— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) September 2, 2018

Again, what could have been.
Sam Curran made the difference with the bat both in the first test as well as here, but Moeen Ali was the difference between the two sides.

— Mohammad Kaif (@MohammadKaif) September 2, 2018

India needed Ashwin to do a Mooen yesterday….Kohli, Pant and Rahane. To go with 5 wickets in the first innings. #EngvInd

— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) September 2, 2018

It's all over at Ageas Bowl. England win the 4th Test by 60 runs to take an assailable 3-1 lead in the series. Moeen Ali shines for the hosts with 9 wickets in the game and a solid first-innings batting performance.

??????? – 246, 271

?? – 273, 184 #ENGvIND

— SunRisers Hyderabad (@SunRisers) September 2, 2018

The Bad:

As with any loss, some fans had to voice their opinion and started pointing fingers. Some at the players, some at the coaches, some at the dependency on Virat carrying the team.

What else you can expect from a team which wanted coaches like Ravi Shastri, Bharat Arun, Sanjay Bangar over legends like Anil Kumble, Zaheer Khan & Rahul Dravid. #ENGvIND #ENGvsIND #IndvsEng

— Gaurav Pathak (@itsGauravPathak) September 2, 2018

Had #India batted sensibly in two of the four tests in 4th innings and shown a bit more fight, the scoreline would have been Ind 3 – Eng 1 instead of Eng 3 – Ind 1

Completely dejected by lack of grit, character & fight shown once again. Time for some heads to roll!#IndvsEng

— Gaurav Kheterpal (@gauravkheterpal) September 2, 2018

Was pretty frustrating to see the team going down like that last evening. The Kohli-Shastri tag team needs to stop. The CAC needs to step in a get Kumble back. Shastri can be hired as a spokesperson at best. #IndvsEng

— Raghav Ram (@idliwadachutney) September 3, 2018

#EngvsIndia #IndvsEng
This is what happen when u select player like Rishabh Pant in test match from the performance of T20 especially IPL

— Khan (@Khanmohammed12) September 2, 2018

https://twitter.com/graphicalcomic/status/1036211371812315138

https://twitter.com/KamalRKaan/status/1036283749590355969

Indeed, the company is great, all the way to the pitch#IndvsEng #KLRahul #hardikpandya pic.twitter.com/ZRwOAVGMAM

— Hardik Gupta (@HardikG15) September 2, 2018

@msdhoni is the only difference in captaincy of @imVkohli in ODI, T20 & Tests. Now the world knows who’s the master brain behind #Virat ‘s success in short formats & failure in Test cricket. Please Dhoni come back to Test cricket at least once for the Australian series#ENDvIND

— Appukuttan ?? (@Imappukuttan) September 2, 2018

@BCCI it’s high time #ravishastri #ViratKohli is questioned. #virat can never win a series. He needs support. It’s not feed his ego by keeping #ravishastri .

— harsha (@harsha737) September 2, 2018