India skipper Rohit Sharma conceded that the hosts “failed as a team” following their 28-run loss to England in the first Test in Hyderabad on Sunday. India were asked to chase down a target of 231 to win the first Test but fall of regular wickets hurt their momentum and were restricted to 119/7 following the dismissal of Shreyas Iyer.
India’s top-order, bar a knock of 39 from Rohit himself, failed to live upto expectations. Jaiswal was dismissed for 15, Gill for a two-ball duck and KL Rahul too failed to steady the ship after being dismissed for 22. Shreyas Iyer (13), meanwhile, continued to struggle in the middle-order before being dismissed by Jack Leach.
However, a half-century run stand between Ravichandran Ashwin and KS Bharat revived India, only for the latter to be cleaned up by Tom Hartley. That wicket eventually set the platform for England to clinch a memorable victory in Hyderabad and go 1-0 up in the five-match series.
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“Overall, we failed as a team. 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,” Rohit said at the post-match presentation ceremony.
Rohit said that while the lower-order including Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj fought hard, it was also important for the top-order batters to get going and also showcase some character.
“I thought 230 was gettable, there wasn’t too much in the pitch. We didn’t bat well enough to get to that score. I wanted them (Siraj and Bumrah) to take the game to the fifth day. 20-30 runs, anything is possible. The lower order actually fought really well there and showed the top-order that you need to fight it out. You need to show character, you need to be brave enough, which I thought we weren’t. We wanted to take some chances, we didn’t take chances with the bat,” said Rohit.
Rohit was all praise for Ollie Pope’s knock. “Exceptional batting, one of the best that I have seen in Indian conditions by an overseas batter, Ollie Pope played a brilliant knock,” stated the 36-year-old.