Horrible! India achieve shameful record post 28-run defeat vs England in Hyderabad

It was a shocking 28-run defeat for India in the first Test match against England in Hyderabad. Tom Hartley and Ollie Pope took the game away from the Indian cricket team, despite being the favourites to win the match on the first three days. India had a huge lead in the first innings and put up a dominant batting display after England’s flop batting show in the first innings.

The Indian batsmen looked clueless during the second innings, be it the dismissal of Indian batsmen Shreyas Iyer, Shubman Gill, or Ravichandran Ashwin. England showed great character throughout the match and fought till the end of Day 4 to ensure that they won the game. This has been the type of cricket England have been playing under Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum, where the team gives it all out to produce results in Test matches.

India achieve a horrible record in the history of 91 years of cricket

On the other hand, India created a disappointing record after the defeat against England. This was the first time in 91-year-old cricket history in India that they lost a Test match despite taking a lead of more than 100 runs at home. This was also only the second time a team won a Test match conceding a lead of over 100 runs. The last time it happened was during the famous India vs Australia Kolkata 2001 Test when India won the match despite battling a follow of 274 runs.

Before the IND vs ENG first Test match, it was Australia, who defeated India by conceding a lead of 65 runs in 1964 in Chennai. This loss is also the second in the list of defeats for India even after taking a huge first innings lead. The first on the list is the 2015 Galle Test match between India and Sri Lanka, where India ended up on the losing end despite taking a lead of 192 runs in the first innings.

England batsman Ollie Pope put the Indians on the back foot with a masterful 196-run performance that also brought his team back into the contest. Pope was unable to make the most of his wasted opportunity and was removed at 186 runs by Indian wicketkeeper KL Rahul. He was not able to attain his double century.

Ollie Pope passed Pakistani opener Saeed Anwar to become the fourth batter to score the most runs by a visiting batsman in the second innings. Top of the list is the renowned Zimbabwean batsman Andy Flower, who scored 232* runs against India.

The Indian squad suffered a significant blow with England’s victory in the opening Test, as it was their first Test match defeat in Hyderabad in 12 years.

The game will also significantly impact the ICC World Test Championship 2023–25 standings, where the Indian cricket team are now ranked fifth and England are ranked eighth. The Indian team will be aiming to regain their winning momentum and display a comeback in the series. England lead the five-match series by 1-0.

Beginning on February 2, the Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam will host the second Test match of the series.