It was a shocking 28-run defeat for India in the first Test match against England in Hyderabad. Tom Hartley and Ollie Pope took the game away from the Indian cricket team, despite being favorites to win the match on the first three days. India took a big lead in the first innings and put up a dominant batting display after England’s failure in the first innings.
The Indian batsmen seemed clueless during the second innings, be it the dismissal of Indian batsmen Shreyas Iyer, Shubman Gill or Ravichandran Ashwin. England showed great character throughout the match and fought until the end of day 4 to ensure they won the match. This has been the type of cricket England have been playing under Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum, where the team gives everything to produce results in Test matches.
India achieves horrible record in 91-year history of cricket
On the other hand, India created a disappointing record after the loss against England. This was the first time in the 91-year history of Indian cricket that they lost a Test match despite taking a lead of over 100 runs at home. This was also the second time that a team won a Test match by conceding a lead of more than 100 runs. The last time it happened was during the famous India vs Australia Kolkata 2001 Test, when India won the match despite battling a 274-run follow-on.
Before the first IND vs ENG test match, it was Australia, who defeated India by conceding a lead of 65 runs in 1964 in Chennai. This loss is also the second on India’s loss list, even after taking a big lead in the first innings. First on the list is the 2015 Galle Test match between India and Sri Lanka, where India ended up losing despite taking a 192-run lead in the first innings.
English batsman Ollie Pope put the Indians on the back foot with a masterful 196-run performance that also brought his team back into the contest. Pope failed to make the most of his wasted opportunity and was bowled out for 186 runs by Indian wicketkeeper KL Rahul. He failed to reach his double century.
Ollie Pope overtook Pakistan opener Saeed Anwar to become the fourth batsman to score the most runs by a visiting batsman in the second innings. Top of the list is renowned Zimbabwean batsman Andy Flower, who scored 232* runs against India.
The Indian team suffered a huge blow with England’s victory in the opening Test as it was their first loss in a Test match in Hyderabad in 12 years.
The game will also have a significant impact on the 2023-25 ICC World Test Championship standings, where the Indian cricket team is now ranked fifth and England is ranked eighth. The Indian team will try to regain their winning momentum and get back into the series. England leads the five-match series 1-0.
Starting February 2, the Dr. YS Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam will host the second Test match of the series.