We didn't take chances with the bat – Rohit Sharma on India’s defeat against England in first Test

India suffered a rare defeat against England in the opening Test of the five-match series as their batters failed to chase down 231, getting skittled out for 202. England started the fourth day of the contest at 316/6, as Ollie Pope continued to fight for the hosts while the Indian bowlers struggled to make headways.

Chasing 231, the Indian batters started well with Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal but would soon be dismissed by Tom Hartley, who clinched seven wickets to leave the hosts in agony and play a major hand in England’s historic 28-run win.

The Indian captain opened up at length in the post-match presentation, highlighting crucial pointers which defined the fixture for both the teams. Rohit 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.”

Heaping praise on Ollie Pope, Sharma added, “Exceptional batting, one of the best that I have seen in Indian conditions by an overseas batter, Ollie Pope played a brilliant knock. I thought 230 was gettable, there wasn't too much in the pitch. We didn't bat well enough to get to the score.”

Rohit also talked about vetting the surface later, adding, “I went and checked where we bowled, we bowled in the right areas.When you finish the day, you analyse what went well and what didn't go well. The bowlers executed the plans really well, but you got to take your hat off and say well played to Pope. That was some serious knock. Hard to look at one or two things.”

Rohit also addressed the team’s shortcomings and further stated, “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. I wanted them (Siraj and Bumrah) to take the game to the fifth day. 20-30 runs, anything is possible.”

He concluded by saying, “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. But that can happen. It's the first game of the series, I hope the guys can learn from that.”