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So here we go. After the abysmal performance in the Test matches, there was a clear cut improvement in the T20Is but the Indian side went on to lose that game as well. And dare I say it was a small matter of collapsing to the short balls from the quicker bowlers than led to the collapse.

The good things first though. The Indians had begun superbly through Ajinkya Rahane and the number three, Rahul Dravid, both of whom were making their debuts in this format of the game. Rahane began well with his ability to play all around the square, but it was the batting of Dravid that surprised most.

Dravid, at the best of times, it known not to enjoy this format of the game and to begin with, he struggled to get going. The slow and low nature of the pitch made scoring difficult for him but soon, he overcame those issues and slapped three sixes off three balls from Samit Patel to bring India close to what they would have termed as a match winning score.

At the other end, Rahane peppered the leg-side with his ability to pull and hook the ball with disdain but he went after the bowlers over the off side as well when they pitch it up to him. He was clearly a batsman for the future.

At 101 for one in 11 overs, a target of 180 should have been the bare minimum for the side; instead, the side capitulated to 165 all out thanks to some shoddy batting by the lower order. It resembled a glutton who had been kept hungry for weeks before being shown a banquet, where he has attempted to eat everything away, in the process of letting the food fall to the floor. The Indians hadn’t seen such a pitch on the tour so far and that meant that they went after the bowling when they should have rotated the things around.

Some of the shots that the likes of MS Dhoni and Raina, not to mention Rohit Sharma played betrayed panic in the ranks – you cannot hit every ball you play to the boundary even in this format of the game now, can you.

When England batted, it was clear that the Indian spinners were going to be the crucial cogs; instead it was the spinners who went for the runs. It must be said that the outfield became very wet because of the dew and the fielders began to have a lot of problems with the ball.

Where does India go from here? For one, they will be hoping for a much better performance from their middle-order in the ODIs. Secondly, they will need to look at their spin bowling; R Ashwin will need to be used smartly. Else, it could become even more difficult to beat England in the series. 

So another one bites the dust for the Indians. Indian opening batsman, Gautam Gambhir, who had been struggling with his head injury throughout the fourth Test match and the time after that, has finally been ruled out of the rest of the series that includes the T20I today and the ODIs.

This was some time coming frankly and so does not come as a big surprise. There was a similar incident in the IPL earlier when Dale Steyn had banged his head into the ground and had missed out on many a games. It is a surprise then, that Gambhir did not realise that the problem was always going to be grave and that he needed to pack his bags and recover fully – probably for the Champions League T20.

Yes, the Champions League T20 again. So, will it be correct to assume that after a couple of weeks’ break, the Kolkata Knight Riders skipper will be ready to face the music in the CLT20 – both, figuratively and literally.

To be fair to Gambhir, it is hardly his fault that he has injured himself and will not be fit for the ODIs. Having seen him play, he would have been gutted not to be able to bat in the ODIs, where he would have had the chance to make sure that he overcame the troubles from the Test matches.

In fact, the way he batted in the fourth Test match, struggling with the pain and the eyesight issue and even getting hit on his head in the process talks a lot about his grit.

However, as unlucky as it is and as cruel as it may sound, the issue is that this would be the second time in a row that Gambhir would be missing an international series but playing in the cash-rich tournaments. This happened in the IPL as well, when Gambhir decided to play on despite his injury to the shoulder, but went on to miss the next international series – the one against West Indies, despite being the captain of the side.

If it happens again, there cannot be too much doubt that there would be some kind of a backlash, especially given that immediately after the CLT20, there would be a home series against England, followed by another against West Indies, which India cannot afford to not win convincingly.

It may not, hence, be a bad idea for the Kolkata captain to give up playing the CLT20, take a break and get back to full fitness for the international series. 

In what can be termed as an interesting development, there is a good chance that the Indian government will be looking to pass a bill that will push the BCCI to within the purview of the government, and bring it under the RTI – the right to information bill.

The repercussions come with its own set of pros and cons. While, on the one hand, the bringing of the BCCI under the right to information act would allow it to become more transparent, something that most Indian fans would be happy about, what it could also do is to allow the government to manoeuvre it in their own way. This could lead to cricket, in the long run, going the way of the other sports in the country – hockey is almost extinct in India, soccer has taken eons to pick up despite being a sport that is watched and loved the world over, while there is no other Olympic team game to boast of. Even in individual sports like boxing, shooting, wrestling and athletics, the situation is grim, if not appalling.

What is surprising is that three of the very prominent former cricketers, Kapil Dev, Mohammad Azharuddin and Ajay Jadeja, are all of the opinion that the decision to bring the sport under the RTI Act would be the correct decision, as it would bring the transparency in the dealings of the board.

The Bill will be discussed in the Parliament and if it does gets a clearance it will be put up to vote during the ongoing monsoon session of Parliament.

Again, it is not only the BCCI, but also the Indian Olympic Association (IOA), which has opposed this proposed bill, but the Kapil Dev has thrown its weight behind the government saying that the BCCI needed to toe the line if the Government decided to go ahead with brining it under their purview.

Azharuddin, who is himself an MP from Moradabad, also said that the board should not be considered different from the other sports and shouldn’t consider itself above the law.

Interestingly, the BCCI VP, Rajiv Shukla, who is also an MP in the Parliament, said that he had not seen the bill and that the BCCI would oppose any such bill from the government. He also added that given that the BCCI does not take any grant from the government, it should not come under the government’s purview.

The final word belonged to Jadeja though. He said, "Why should they (BCCI) worry. Government is not asking you to change the way you work or do not promote sport. They are not stopping you from doing anything. They are actually encouraging to do it in a more transparent way,"

Either Jadeja is to naive or he is only trying to be diplomatic here. 

So, the final couple of sides have finally managed to get through to the Champions League T20 playoffs, what with the qualification of the English counties into the tournament. The count of 13 teams has thus been achieved.

On August 27, the finals day of the English FP T20 tournament, Somerset and Leicestershire won their respective semi-finals, to not only enter the final but also the Champions League T20 playoffs to be played between September 19 and October 9. Leicestershire went on to win the tournament, relegating the Somerset side to their third successive finals’ loss.

It was an interesting finals day; affected by rain but brining out the real excitement. Leicestershire were held to a tie by Lancashire in their semi-final before winning through in the Super Over, which took them to the final of the tournament. On the other hand, Somerset also had a tied game in their semi-final, thanks to a magnificent last over bowled by Dominic Cork when they needed only five from the last six balls.

However, it was in the eliminator that things changed around for the two teams, what with Leicestershire smashing the required 13 rather easily while Somerset setting up 17 and getting only five runs from Shahid Afridi from Hampshire. Hampshire had been the defending champions of the FP T20 tournament and had they been allowed to, would have played for the Champions League T20.

What Hampshire’s loss means is that the Indian fans would not be able to see Shahid Afridi feature in India for the Champions League T20, even as Somerset make their second trip into the tournament in three years.

The Champions League T20 qualifiers will now have the following groups:

Pool A: Ruhuna, Trinidad and Tobago, Leicestershire

Pool B: Auckland, Kolkata Knight Riders, Somerset

Three of these teams will make it through to the main draw of the Champions League T20, which begins from September 21.

Here are the Champions League T20 qualifiers matches to be played on September 19, 20 and 21. All the below games will be played in Uppal in Hyderabad.

September 19:

Ruhuna v TT, Auckland v KKR

September 20:

Leicestershire v TT, Auckland v Somerset

September 21:

Leicestershire v Ruhuna, KKR v Somerset

While it is difficult to call who will go on to qualify for the main draw, if the pitches at Uppal are anywhere close to being spin-friendly as Indian pitches usually are, trust Ruhuna to go through to the next round. Somerset, incidentally, have a decent line-up of spinners, including Murali Kartik, who returns from injury to make it to the side. If they can get their batting right, they will have a decent chance as well. However, the absence of Marcus Trescothick will hurt the side.