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‘We Played Some Poor Cricket’ - Rohit Sharma After India’s Shocking Loss To ENG In 1st Test

image-lrxhsd3hRohit Sharma catching up with Ashwin and Bumrah on Day 4 at Hyderabad (BCCI)

Team India failed to monopolise their huge first-innings advantage as they fell 28 runs short of England on Day 4 of the first Test of their five-match series. Tasked to chase down 231 runs with five sessions left in the match, hosts had their entire run-chase enveloped at the stroke of stumps by England’s debutant Tom Hartley.

After the match, losing skipper Rohit Sharma gave his assessment of the defeat and praised visitor’s number three batsman Ollie Pope for shaping up a Test-defining 196 over Days 3 and 4 on a turning Hyderabad surface. Sharma also claimed that he felt his team was in a good position at the halfway stage of the game owing to their 190-run lead.

Rohit Sharma admits team ‘played poor cricket’

Rohit Sharma admitted that he thought the Indian team had the advantage going for them at Hyderabad owing to their 190-run first innings lead.

The hosts’ skipper further claimed that the 231-run target they were tasked to achieve was gettable and they played some poor cricket to fall 28 runs short of the same. While speaking during the post-match presentation ceremony, the 36-year-old said:

“I mean cricket is being played over four days. Hard to pinpoint actually where it went wrong. Having got the lead of 190, we thought we had the advantage. But outstanding batting from them. Ollie Pope played an exceptional knock. I think 230 was gettable and we played some poor cricket.”

Rohit Sharma praised his bowlers for “perfectly” executing their plans, but hailed Ollie Pope’s “serious knock” for tilting the complexion of the match. He added:

“I went in and checked where we bowled. We bowled in the right areas. After the day's play, you analyze. We saw and I feel the bowlers executed their plans perfectly. But you have to take your hats off. It was a serious knock from Pope. After first innings of both teams, I feel we were in a very good position.”

Rohit Sharma will now lead Team India in the second Test of their five-match series against England at Visakhapatnam. The much-awaited contest will be staged between February 2 and February 6 at the city’s Dr. Y. S. Rajashekar Reddy ACA–VDCA Cricket Stadium.