India vs England: Below-par score, Ollie Pope's century — Where did hosts lose the first Test?

Team India received a reality check in the first Test against England in Hyderabad on Sunday after they succumbed to a 28-run defeat. Ollie Pope made the difference with a century whereas spinner Tom Hartley was impactful with a seven-fer as England dominated most of the second half of the Test to clinch a memorable victory.

The hosts were set a target of 231 on Day four of the first Test on Sunday. However, it just wasn’t meant to be for Rohit Sharma and Co as a majority of the batters failed to fire and get those big knocks.

Read: England give India a reality check as ‘Bazball’ announces itself

So where did India lose the first Test?

First innings total

Knocks from Yashasvi Jaiswal (80) and Ravindra Jadeja (87) had set India the platform for a big total, and even Shreyas Iyer (35), KS Bharat (41) and Axar Patel (44) stepped up with vital contributions. All of these knocks were vital in Team India posting 436 in the first innings with a lead of 190 runs, having replied to England’s first innings of 246.

However, it later proved to be that such a lead was not safe, so much that, Rahul Dravid felt that India were at least 70 runs short.

“I thought we left probably 70 runs on the board in the first innings. You know, I think in our first innings, when conditions were pretty good to bat in on day two, I thought in the kinds of situations we got ourselves into, some good starts and we didn’t really capitalise,” Dravid said at the post-match press conference on Sunday.

“We didn’t get a hundred, you know, we didn’t get somebody getting a really big hundred for us. So, in some ways, in India, I just felt we left those 70, 80 runs back in the hut in the first innings,” he added.

Ollie Pope’s destructive knock

Having said that, Ollie Pope’s knock of 196 was a game-changer for England. He’s been clinical against the spinners in the past and once again, against India he showcased why he just cannot be written off. And more importantly, Pope had the right approach against the Indian spinners. He mastered the sweeps and reverse sweeps, something that was part of England’s training camp during the 15 days they spent in Abu Dhabi.

Test cricket ❤️