Team India suffered a heartbreaking 28-run defeat at the hands of England in the opening Test at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad on Sunday (January 28).
After conceding a significant 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 the loss, India skipper Rohit Sharma conceded that they were not "brave enough" in their second innings.
"When you are put against a wall, you need to show character and you need to be brave enough, which I thought we weren't," Rohit said at the post-match presentation. "We wanted to take some chances… we didn't take chances with the bat. But that can happen."
The Indian captain was gracious in defeat as he hailed Ollie Pope’s knock as "probably the best" he had seen in Indian conditions by an overseas batter.
"You got to take your hat off and say 'well played' to Ollie Pope. That was some serious knock," Rohit said. "Having gotten the lead of 190, we thought we were very much in the game, but then… exceptional batting, probably the best that I have seen in Indian conditions by an overseas batter.
"Ollie Pope played a brilliant knock. I definitely thought 230 was gettable, there wasn't too much in the pitch, but we didn't bat well enough to get to the score."
This was the first instance that India lost a Test match at home after securing a first-innings lead in excess of 100 runs. However, Rohit refused to blame the bowlers for this loss.
"I went and checked where we bowled [after the third day], and I thought we bowled in the right areas," Rohit stated. "When you finish the day, you analyse: what went well, what didn't go well, and things like that. We went back and saw things; we spoke about [them] and I thought the bowlers executed the plan really well.
"Hard to look at one or two things. Overall we failed as a team. I thought after the first innings of their batting and our batting I thought we were very much in the game. We didn't bat well enough to get to that score [in the second innings]."
Rohit Sharma also had words of praise for India's lower-order batters, who hung around to give them hope late on the penultimate day.
After being reduced to 119/7, KS Bharat and R Ashwin forged a 57-run stand for the eighth wicket. Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj also added 25 runs for the last wicket but could not take the game into the final day.
"I wanted them to take the game to the fifth day; 20-30 runs anything is possible," Rohit said. "The lower order fought really well, and showed the top order that you need to fight it out. It is the first game of the series. I hope the guys can learn from that."
(ESPNCricinfo Inputs)
