Chittagong: 62 for 5

England's seven-Test marathon began in Bangladesh's port city and they only just managed to stay afloat. They had a narrow lead heading into their second innings which was almost squandered. Shakib Al Hasan, who had formed a twin new-ball spin attack with teenager Mehedi Hasan, claimed three including the key wicket of Joe Root. In the end, Ben Stokes' superb 85 gave them just enough to defend but it was a warning sign of what was to come.

Dhaka: 69 for 5 and 10 for 64

Those warning signs that flashed in Chittagong, blared at full volume a few days later in Dhaka. In the first innings England lost the top half of their innings for 69 - after Bangladesh themselves had lost 9 for 49 - before the lower order managed to haul them to a small lead. But there was no escape second time around as they lost all ten wickets for 64 in 22.2 gruesome overs after Alastair Cook and Ben Duckett had opened with an aggressive stand of 100 in 23 overs. It all changed first ball after tea on the third evening when Mehedi speared one through Duckett. It turned into a magical afternoon for Mehedi as he secured match figures of 12 for 159 - the best by a Bangladesh bowler in Tests. It was a shock England would never really recover from.

So near, yet so far: Alastair Cook was given out to the last ball of the fourth day in Vizag AFP

Visakhapatnam: 80 for 5 and 10 for 83

After brief respite in Rajkot, where they pushed India hard, the worst fears about England in India started to come to fruition. In the face of India's 455 the match was basically lost in the final session of the second day. Mohammad Shami's pearler to Cook began the first slide, but the run out of Haseeb Hameed and Root's carve into the deep were self-inflicted. Faced with five sessions to secure a draw, England opted for the blockathon approach as Cook and Hameed added 75 in 50 overs before a grubber trapped Hameed lbw. Then, with what became the final ball of the fourth day, Cook was lbw to Ravindra Jadeja which meant the last morning began with the vulnerable Duckett in the middle rather than their captain. Despite having eight wickets in hand there was an air of inevitably and the match ended shortly after lunch: all 10 wickets had gone in 47 overs.

Mohali: 107 for 6

Despite an underwhelming first innings, England were still in the contest when they removed Virat Kohli to leave India 204 for 6. But the last four wickets added 213 and England went into bat again starring at a deficit of 134 instead of somewhere near parity. Still, it was not entirely beyond the realms of possibility that India could be left with a testing chase but that notion disappeared as they fell to 78 for 4 on the third evening - the batting order having been reshuffled due to Hameed's broken finger. They slipped further on the fourth day before a modicum of pride of restored through Hameed's gritty defiance, but the damage - in every sense - had long since been done. And it wasn't just spin that did them on this occasion, Shami producing a rapid new-ball burst to break the belated resistance.

Chris Woakes was bowled by R Ashwin during England's collapse in Mumbai AFP

Mumbai: 6 for 15

Rarely had a total of 400 been made to look so inadequate (well, at least until England outdid themselves a week later in Chennai) as Kohli made a career-best 235 alongside M Vijay's century and Jayant Yadav's stylish maiden hundred - India's first by a No. 9. As in Vizag, England were eyeing parity with India 307 for 6 only for them to return to the crease 231 runs behind. They played their shots, in a forlorn hope to set India some sort of final-day target, but from the moment Stokes fell shortly before the close on the fourth day the lower order was zapped for just 15 runs as R Ashwin claimed an astonishing 6 for 7 in 37 balls.

Chennai: 10 for 104 including 6 for 15

Was there time for one final collapse? There sure was. At lunch on the final day in Chennai it appeared England had managed to restore a small sense of order after being pummelled for 759 by India's batsmen. Cook and Keaton Jennings had reached the first break on 97 without loss with two sessions left to leave having shown some fight. Yet, in the end, India won with time to spare. Cook fell to his nemesis, Jadeja, for a sixth time in the series then a raft of soft shots from Jonny Bairstow, Moeen Ali and Stokes led to a swift unravelling. It was fitting that the final two wickets of the series fell in the space of four deliveries. Now all that was left was for England to collapse into the plane seats for the journey home.