The captain of team India Rohit Sharma expressed his inability to find words to describe the shortcomings in their 28-run loss to England in the 1st Test in Hyderabad. He mentioned that he believed the target of 230 was achievable and felt that the batting lineup delivered an utterly average performance.
As the Test headed into day 4, England had a slight advantage with the brilliant century of Ollie Pope’ which played an important role in getting over the 190-run lead.
England added 104 more runs to their total, setting a target of 231 for the hosts. India had a decent start in their chase, but Tom Hartley’s three quick wickets significantly dented their progress. In the end, the responsibility fell on Siraj and Bumrah where the men in blue needed 29 runs to win. However, Siraj got stumped after attempting an aggressive shot.
Speaking to the post-match presentation, Rohit Sharma said, “Cricket is played over four days, so it’s hard to pinpoint where it went wrong. Having got a lead of 190, we thought we were very much in the game. “
He further added, “Exceptional batting, one of the best I have seen in Indian conditions by an overseas batter, Ollie Pope played a brilliant knock. We bowled in the right areas.”
“The bowlers executed the plans really well, you got to take your hat off to Pope and say well played. Overall, we failed as a team. We didn’t bat well enough. I wanted them (Siraj and Bumrah) to take the game to the fifth day. The lower order fought really well there. You need to be brave enough, which I thought we weren’t.”
