CHENNAI: Test defeats at home are rare for this Indian team. Since the time Virat Kohli took over as the five-day captain 2015, this is only their second defeat, following the one they suffered against Australia in 2017. That said, they have plenty to do ahead of the second Test that starts in three days at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, especially with regards to the batting department.
On a flat pitch, in response to England's first innings total of 578, India's top-order failed to turn up as they conceded a lead of 241 runs. That they were behind the eight ball the moment they lost the toss was there to see, but there was also the fact India have only themselves to blame.
In recent years where India have dominated at home, the toss has never played a huge role. Even if they conceded big first innings totals, the batsmen responded to it by scoring higher than the opposition before their more skillful spinners took over.
In the first Test, both aspects were missing. The absence of Ravindra Jadeja meant England could target the inexperienced Washington Sundar and Shahbaz Nadeem. Throw in the fact that the top-order that are so used to milk runs, failed to deliver. While Kohli said the match was lost with the bat in the first innings, he looked annoyed when Ajinkya Rahane's performance since the 100 in Melbourne was brought up.
“Look if you're trying to dig something out, you're not going to get anything because there's nothing. I've said this many times in the past as well, along with Pujara, he (Rahane) is our most important Test batsman and he is going to continue to be. We believe in his abilities, we have believed in his abilities for a long time now and he's an impact player,” Kohli said.
Like Australia in 2017, who came here well prepared by having a camp in the UAE, England have arrived here on the back of a tour of Sri Lanka, where they won both Tests. It was in contrast to India whose last Test at home was back in 2019. “You could say they are well prepared but to say they're better prepared than us in our own conditions is not an accurate assessment. If you look at the second innings, when the ball was really turning and bouncing, both the sides were pretty much similar in terms of how they went about their second innings,” he said.
Right through the Test, the SG ball has proved to be a talking point as it went soft by the 30th over. After Ravichandran Ashwin raised it on Monday, Kohli too echoed the same.
“Quality of the ball was also not what we were very pleased to see as that was also the case in the past. Just the ball completely being destroyed in 60 overs is not something that you experience as a Test side and any side could be prepared for. Having said that it's not an excuse and England played better cricket and they deserve to win," Kohli added.