In the end, England went down with a blaze of ill-considered shots, not a defiant statement of a team trying to salvage something from the wreckage of a horrendous tour, but rather a hoisting of the white flag. This defeat in Chennai was appalling, as bad as any that England have suffered in recent times, and there are some very real questions for English cricket to face up to.

Where are their spinners? England don't have any Test-class slow bowlers, but why not? Why does county cricket not develop them? The much-trumpeted and expensive International Pathway hasn't produced a spinner of note, since Graeme Swann retired. Why? Why did England select Zafar Ansari and Liam Dawson ahead of Jack Leach?

Why have England's fast bowlers been out-bowled by their Indian counterparts? What has happened to Steven Finn, a bowler who bowled so well in a One-Day International (ODI) series in India in 2011? Why has he regressed and not been seen during the tour? Where is the stock of young bowlers which is ready to lead England for the next decade?

Why haven't England got a settled top-order? Since Andrew Strauss retired, England have been searching for an opener and have only just now found one who looks the real deal, in Haseeb Hameed. Why has it taken so long? Where is England's No. 4 specialist batsman? Why is Joe Root not converting more fifties into hundreds? Why did they stick with Gary Ballance for so long? Where is Ian Bell?

Why have England lost eight of the final Tests of a series from the last nine? Why have they been so inconsistent, that they can beat Pakistan convincingly by 330 and 141 runs this summer, but then get thumped in the other two Tests? Why does coach Trevor Bayliss not watch any county cricket? With all their money and resources, why have England won 12 and lost 14 Tests since the start of 2015? Why were England forced to play 17 Tests in 2016, a ridiculous burden for any team?

We could go on. The answers to these questions will sit uneasily for some within English cricket.

Not that this is a time for blame and recrimination. This is, after all, just a game and there are far more important things going on in the world. But this defeat should serve as a wake-up call for England in Test cricket. For too long they have been coasting, speaking of potential and progress, but in reality, falling into stagnation.

Whether Alastair Cook goes as captain will not be decided until the New Year when he meets with Strauss on January 9, to review the tour and discuss the future. He looks a spent man - unsurprising after 17 Tests - and his game has suffered on this tour as his side slipped into humiliation. Cook and England need to decide whether he can rouse himself again or whether the time is right for Root.

Chennai may have made up Cook's mind. Throughout the winter, England have seemed to be playing less than the sum of their parts and a new captain, with new ideas and energy, may be able to galvanise them better. An