India lost the first Test in Hyderabad by 28 runs despite taking a huge first-innings lead of 190 runs.
After conceding a substantial first-innings lead of 190 runs, the visitors rode on Ollie Pope’s remarkable 196 to post 420 in their second essay, setting a stiff target of 231 for India.
Chasing the target, the home side capitulated to be bowled out for 202 in 69.2 overs. It was a listless batting display as no one managed to score a half-century.
After going down 1-0 in the five-Test series, Indian head coach Rahul Dravid said he doesn't want to be "too harsh" while assessing the younger crop of batters.
The likes of Shubman Gill (23, 0) and Shreyas Iyer (35 and 13) failed to leave a mark across the two innings of the Hyderabad Test.
"I wouldn't be so harsh to judge them. But it was a challenging wicket, and it's been a bit of a challenge for some of our young batsman to adapt. But you know, they've got the skill," Dravid said in the post-match presser.
"They've come here by scoring a lot of runs in domestic cricket. They are being picked on merit. Sometimes it does take time for people to adjust. They're working really hard and there's a lot of thought going into their batting," the coach further stated without mentioning anyone's name.
Dravid wants the young batters to develop their own methods for countering spin-friendly conditions.
"It's just a question of them looking to constantly improve and develop skills that may help them counter these kinds of conditions a little bit better,” he added.
Dravid acknowledged that some of the younger players hardly get time to play first-class cricket due to a busy schedule.
"We've to get better as a lot of players are quite young. A lot of these guys do play a lot of white-ball cricket and maybe don't get a lot of time to play First-Class cricket. So, they're learning and I think they're getting there," he said.
According to Dravid, India’s first-innings lead could have been way more than 190 had some of the batters didn’t throw their wickets.
"I thought we left probably 70 runs on the board in the first innings. Conditions were good to bat on day two and got some good starts but we didn't really capitalise. We didn't get a 100, you know, a really big hundred. The second innings is always going to be challenging," he explained.
Nonetheless, Rahul Dravid refused to blame the Hyderabad pitch for India's troubles.
"I wouldn't say this was a flat wicket by any stretch of imagination. It was a good cricket wicket and it turned through the course of the game. It allowed you to score runs. As we saw, even in the fourth innings, you could score runs," he remarked.
Dravid is confident of his team’s ability to make a turnaround and he is looking forward to a keenly contested series.
"Batsmen have bailed us out in a few games, in some close games that we've had recently. But not this time but a great series to look forward to now. We've fallen behind but we have to show some character and look forward to that.
"I thought 190 was a really good lead but then again, not many teams will come in and score 420 in the third innings in India and not many players will make 196," he concluded.
(With PTI Inputs)