Don't get me wrong, I think Bell is a quality player however he is too easily bogged down and struggles to find the boundary (especially aerially) when eh needs to. Far too often he nurdles his way to 50 and then when he tries to pick it up he loses his wicket- it's hardly a coincidence that he has 11 50s and only that 1 hundred which is a pretty poor conversion rate. Also, after Pietersen lost his wicket Bell really ought to have taken charge; instead the run rate increased to the point where England lost key wickets trying to chase the game after an excellent start. However, Bell was not the only player guilty of trying to nudge his way out of trouble when more direct action was needed.
Up until Bopara started hitting after India let off the gas we'd hit the usual England situation; run rate increasing beyond our control and the only solution being the sweep shop or nudging for a single when a better side would be looking to hit down the ground for boundaries, something we seem incapable of.