Calcutta: India paid the price for focusing more on the James Anderson-Ravindra Jadeja incident than on their game, Michael Vaughan said.

The former England captain Vaughan feels “India were simply embarrassing” as they did not have the mental strength or character to fight under pressure.

“They have been brought up facing orthodox off spin but they made it look as though Moeen Ali was bowling hand grenades and folded abysmally. They just gave up under pressure, they threw in the towel. For the past two weeks it looks to me as if India have been fighting too many battles off the pitch and have forgotten to fight on it,” Vaughan wrote in his column for The Daily Telegraph.

“They got embroiled in the James Anderson case and were so bent on getting him banned that they took their eye off the cricket. England did not produce magic deliveries; it was poor batting, with India lacking the mental strength or character to fight through the situation.

“India are battling many problems now. Look at Virat Kohli. His technique is all over the place. James Anderson has bowled 30 balls at him, he has scored seven runs and lost his wicket four times. That is remarkable. It is not easy being touted as the next Sachin Tendulkar. Clearly for him to become a world-renowned player he has to score more runs overseas, but I have been amazed at how fragile he looks going to the crease.”

“We now have got to stop calling Moeen Ali a part-time spin bowler thanks to the fact he has shown a great capacity to learn quickly. He realised that he has to bowl more quickly in Test cricket than at county level and he has adapted with stunning results.

“I would say the most pleasing aspect for English cricket is the fact Graeme Swann has not been missed in this series. We needed him against Sri Lanka because Alastair Cook did not know how to use Moeen. He now realises that he is a front-line spinner and bowls him more.”

Another former Test captain Ian Botham said the hosts were dominant side all through the match and expected them to win the series.

“You could call it a toss to tape win, because at no stage did India ever look like overtaking England in this match. On every day, in every session and in every department England were stronger than India,” Botham wrote in his column for Mirror.