‘Hard to pinpoint where it went wrong. Having got a lead of 190, we thought we were very much in the batting’: These were the very words uttered by Indian skipper Rohit Sharma, in utter disbelief of what had transpired.
Well, what transpired today was that Ben Stokes-led England triumphed over hosts India, in a nail-biter of a clash, to secure a historic 28-run win in the first Test of the five-match series, in Hyderabad.
How did they get here? Well, India aren’t the only ones who can take advantage of the turning tracks, as England’s spinners wreaked havoc over the Indian batters today, scalping all ten of the wickets within a day.
At the head of it all was debutant Tom Hartley who, after a tumultuous first innings, spun magic and left Indian batters bamboozled as he scalped himself a seven-for, ending his innings with figures of 7/63.
Hartley’s effort is the best figures for an England spinner on Test debut in the post-war era and nine wickets by him in a match is the joint-most since Robert Berry’s 9/116 against West Indies in Manchester in 1950.
India’s loss to England today was more than just a mere victory for the visitors. In fact, as aforementioned, England have scripted history. But, let us also take a gander at what this loss actually symbolises for India in their historied Test career.
Well, you know what they say: history is meant to be broken. That is exactly what took place.
India’s loss to England today is only their fourth home Test defeat in the last decade of cricket they have played here. Two of those four losses have come to the mighty Australia and now England also join the party with two of the other victories.
Another shocking fact is that India’s total of 436 runs is the second largest total put up by India ever in a home defeat, barring their total of 449 against Pakistan in 2005 at Bengaluru.
To add more insult to injury, India’s 190-run lead at the end of the 1st innings is also the second largest lead that has been put up in a defeat for India. The biggest lead that that ended up in a loss for the Men in Blue was back in 2015 at Galle against Sri Lanka, when India crumbled and eventually incurred a defeat.
But, it would be unfair to discount the fight that the Indians put up, especially the lower-order batters who gave it their best to lead their team to victory but alas.
A fifty-partnership from Ashwin and Bharat had the Indians clinging on to hope and a brave 25-run partnership for the last wicket displayed the grit of the players.
In fact, India’s 28-run defeat marks the fourth narrowest margin by which India have lost a Test match ever in their history.
Credit where credit is due though. There is no downplaying the importance of the England spinners, who spun magic and brought hell down on the Indians.
The sensational seven-for-yielding spell from Hartley, a marvelously tight spell from Joe Root and the experience of Jack Leach all came together perfectly as England cleaned India up with ease.
In fact, this marked just the fourth time ever in England’s Test cricket history since 1945 where none of the wickets were taken by a seamer.
The last occurrence of the same was back in 2018 in Pallekalle against Sri Lanka, where the quartet of Moeen Ali, Jack Leach, Joe Root and Adil Rashid scalped all ten of the Lankans themselves in a match which resulted in a 57-run win for the Englishmen.
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