England won the Hyderabad Test over India despite conceding a first-innings lead of 190 runs.
Coming into the series, all eyes were on England's approach with the bat in hand and whether their aggressive 'Bazball' approach would work on Indian soil. As it turned out, Ben Stokes and his men backed their fearless game to stun the hosts.
Despite conceding a substantial first-innings lead of 190 runs, the visitors fought back and won the Hyderabad Test by 28 runs.
Riding on Ollie Pope’s awe-inspiring century (196), England racked up 420 in their second innings, setting a stiff target of 231 for India.
During the chase, the home side capitulated to be bowled out for 202 in 69.2 overs and went 1-0 down in the five-match series.
In his column for Sky Sports, former England skipper Nasser Hussain lauded the “stubbornness” of the tourists.
"What I like about them is their stubbornness. If you doubt them, they'll double down on it and go even more stubborn. I think that is a good thing because if you're constantly listening to all the noise, all that's written and said, you flicker from one theory to another. The present regime know what they want. They're going to stick with that and even when they're behind, they will back the cricketers to turn it around. They have shown they are a side not to be messed with," Hussain wrote.
"India will probably rue their first innings. They got 436 but actually they could have got a lot more if not for some sloppy dismissals. They will come back. They are a very fine side and history tells you it will be tough for England here. But it is a wake-up call for India as England have shown Bazball can work in these conditions," he added.
Tom Hartley, who was playing his debut Test in Hyderabad, starred with the ball for England on the penultimate day. The left-arm spinner ran through the Indian batting line-up in the second innings, returning with a seven-wicket haul (7/62).
After taking a 1-0 lead in the series, England skipper Ben Stokes described the Hyderabad Test win as their "greatest triumph" since he took over as captain.
"Since I've taken the captaincy on, we've had a lot of fantastic moments as a team," Stokes said at the post-match presentation. "We've had a lot of great victories, we've been involved in some amazing games. But I think [with] where we are and who we're playing against, this victory is 100%, definitely our greatest triumph since I've been captain."
The second Test is scheduled to get underway on February 2 in Visakhapatnam.