‘Overall, we failed as a team……’ – Rohit Sharma opens up on India’s defeat in 1st Test vs England

Team India suffered a heartbreaking and crushing defeat against England in the first Test match on January 28 at the iconic Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium. Notably, the Men in Blue had a 190-run lead after the first inning, and they got a low total to win the game, but they failed to overcome it. Meanwhile, India’s cricket captain Rohit Sharma recently opened up about India’s loss against England in the first Test match.

The stylish right-handed batter was finding it very hard to disclose where their side had gone wrong. In addition, the top-order batter heaps praise on star batter Olive Pope, who went on to score 196 runs and help England finish in the dominant position. Moreover, the 36-year-old cricketer accepted that 230 runs was chasable and they should have won the Test game.

“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. When you finish the day, you analyze what went well and what didn’t go well,” Rohit Sharma said after the loss.

We didn’t bat well enough to get to that score: Rohit Sharma

Meanwhile, Rohit Sharma acknowledged that, as a team, they had failed. The Mumbai Indians star feels one needs to show courage and use tactical skills and a good approach in the game, but they failed to do so.

“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. You need to show character, you need to be brave enough, which I thought we weren’t,” he added further.