South African-born Kevin Pietersen has a long way to go before he is accepted as captaincy material. He is not the first with this background to lead his adopted country. There was Tony Greig, who proved to be a cagey captain with excellent tactical acumen and the sort of attitude which was provocative and challenging. Maybe it would help Pietersen to have a long chat with the former England all-rounder now settled in Australia.

It is possible that Pietersen felt ‘safe’ after having set a big fourth innings target in the Chennai Test. The problem was he failed to make things happen. It was too late when he understood that the Test was going away from him.

Sehwag’s blitzkrieg was soul-damaging and of course morale-damaging, and on the fourth afternoon Pietersen ran out of ideas. Maybe a few overs from Paul Collingwood would have helped to upset Sehwag’s rhythm, as the bowler with his medium-paced offerings would have taken the pace off the ball.

There was no way pace would have accounted for the Indian batsmen on the Chepauk pitch, and certainly not that of Harmison and Flintoff. The rest of the bowling was amiable and Englishmen, who have been taught at school not to carry coal to Newcastle, should have realised that the spin they have is very ordinary. A wag remarked, “Pick up any Sardar from Southall and ask him to bowl slow left-arm, it would not make him a Bishen Singh Bedi.”

Even Graeme Swann, who turned his off-breaks a long way, must have been surprised at Pietersen’s field placing. When it was obvious that Swann could not bowl the one going on with the arm, what was the need of a slip and a gully, when the leg-trap cordon should have been strengthened?

Of course, Pietersen would learn, but that he lost the opening Test will be a black mark against him as captain. Good batsmen need not necessarily make good captains. Ask Mike Brearley.