Cricket: Alastair Cook finds no positive spin after landmark loss in Dhaka Test

England's captain Alastair Cook during the presentation ceremony, after they lost the match against Bangladesh on Oct 30, 2016. PHOTO: REUTERS

Reuters - If England's struggles in Bangladesh are anything to go by, they could be in for an even rougher ride in India over the next couple of months when they take on the world's No. 1 side in a five-match series in similar spin-friendly conditions.

England narrowly won the opening Test against Bangladesh in Chittagong by 22 runs before losing the second by 108 runs in Dhaka, their first defeat to the South Asian side.

Alastair Cook's men looked well placed to maintain their perfect record against Bangladesh by reaching 100 without loss at tea while chasing 273, but lost all 10 wickets in the final session to lose inside three days.

Bangladesh are ranked ninth among the world's 10 Test-playing nations and had won just seven of their 94 Tests before Sunday - five against minnows Zimbabwe and two against second-string West Indies sides.

But India under Virat Kohli have won their last four Test series, including a 3-0 win in a four-match contest against South Africa last year and the recent 3-0 whitewash of New Zealand at home.

England are the last team to have won a Test series in India when they beat the hosts 2-1 in a four-match series in 2012.

India will use the Decision Review System (DRS) on a trial basis during the series.

The influential Indian board has long been a staunch opponent of the DRS system, which aims to reduce umpiring errors by detecting edges and predicting the ball trajectory to ensure correct catch and leg-before decisions.

With the England spinners being out-bowled by their Bangladesh counterparts, Cook has no qualms in accepting that his side will travel to India as "heavy underdogs".

"We're not hiding behind the fact that we haven't got world-class spinners," Cook said. "It doesn't mean our spinners are bad bowlers. "We've got guys who can bowl some really good balls and spells. But we can't quite control well enough at the moment. We don't hold our length and line well enough.

"We bowl jaffas, but we're easy to knock off strike and we don't build the kind of pressure we'd like."

Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.