'Wanted Siraj and Bumrah to take India to 5th day' - 'clueless' Rohit Sharma's bizarre remark 

England got off to a brilliant start in the five-match Test series against India and defeated the Rohit Sharma-led side in the first Test by 28 runs. India were not able to chase down 231 runs and were all out for 202 runs in the second innings.

English left-arm spinner Tom Hartley wrote the script behind India’s fall in the second innings and took seven and a total of 9 wickets in the whole match. However, the main architect of the victory will be Ollie Pope, who played an innings of 196 runs in the second innings and was also adjudged the Player of the Match.

The Indian team started off well in their second innings when openers Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal added 42 runs for the first wicket while chasing down the target. However, Jaiswal walked back to the dressing room after scoring 15 runs and it was another blow for the hosts when Shubman Gill wasted yet another chance and had to walk back after scoring a duck.

Indian captain Rohit Sharma also failed to convert his start and got out for 39 runs. KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer also perished against the England bowlers after scoring 17 and 13 runs respectively. Rahul played an innings of 86 runs in the first innings.

Indian batsmen KS Bharat and Ravichandran Ashwin tried to show some fight and added 57 runs for the seventh wicket. Bharat fell against Tom Hartley with a beauty for 28 runs, whereas Ashwin also got out for the same score as Bharat to Hartley.

At last, Mohammed Siraj was the last Indian wicket to fall India were wrapped up for 202 runs and England achieved a historic win.

Rohit Sharma clueless after the first Test loss against England

Indian captain Rohit Sharma lauded England’s performance in the first Test match and also heaped praise on Ollie Pope.

While speaking in the post-match interview, Rohit Sharma stated that the cricket was played over four days, so it was very hard to point where it went wrong for the team. Rohit believed that 231 was chasable and the team didn’t bat well to chase down the score. Rohit praised the Indian bowlers and believed that they bowled in the right areas. Rohit Sharma also praised Ollie Pope and believes that he played one of the best innings by an overseas batsman in the Indian conditions.

Rohit Sharma 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. 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.

“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.”

Rohit Sharma added that they were in the game after the first two innings of the match. Rohit wanted Mohammed Siraj and Jasprit Bumrah to take the match to the fifth day. The lower order fought well, but the top order was exposed. Rohit believed that the Indian team was not brave enough but it was a long series and the team would learn from the first Test.

“Hard to look at one or two things. 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.

“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.”

The Indian team slipped to the 5th position in the World Test Championship 2023-25 standings and now will be hoping to win the second Test set to be played in Vizag from February 2.