Dravid rues India missing out on 70-80 runs in first innings

Thanks to sparkling efforts from Ollie Pope and Tom Hartley, England registered an incredible come-from-behind win in the opening Test against India in Hyderabad, . The two players put behind their dismal performances in the first innings to script a 28-run victory and the England skipper was lavish in his praise for both the chief architects.

“Since I’ve taken the captaincy on, we’ve obviously had a lot of fantastic moments as a team, we’ve had a lot of great victories, we’ve been involved in some amazing games. But I think where we are and who we’re playing against, this victory…100% definitely our greatest triumph since I’ve been captain,” Stokes said.

India scored 436 in their first innings and even took a lead of 190 runs but ended up losing as England set them a competitive target on a challenging surface. India had three batters reaching the eighties as some contributions from the lower-order to help them bag a big lead before Pope scored an audacious 196 to turn the game around.

The home side’s endeavor to chase down 231 on the fourth day fell flat after they lost seven for 119, with debutant left-arm spinner Tom Hartley doing the bulk of the damage with a seven-wicket haul. Indian head coach Rahul Dravid hinted that the rethink could extend to some of the batting plans as well going forward. He also rued the fact that India couldn’t get more in the first innings.