Indian cricket team captain Virat Kohli pointed out the uneconomical overs of spinners Shahbaz Nadeem and Washington Sundar, which allowed England to post a mammoth first-innings total, as the pivotal point for the hosts’ 227-run defeat in Chennai on Tuesday.
ENGLAND WIN 🎉
— ICC (@ICC) February 9, 2021
An all-round performance by the visitors has given them a 227-run victory over India.
The lead the four-test series 1-0!#INDvENG ➡️ https://t.co/gnj5x4GOos pic.twitter.com/luS7HAcWIm
The visitors rode on a 218-run knock from captain Joe Root and valuable contributions of 87 and 82 from Dominic Sibley and Ben Stokes to post a huge first-innings score of 578.
For his stellar knock of 218 in the first innings, Joe Root has been awarded the Player of the Match 💪#INDvENG pic.twitter.com/vX0Jefh04V
— ICC (@ICC) February 9, 2021
Kohli stated that while Ravichandran Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah and Ishant Sharma bowled pretty well, both left-arm spinner Nadeem and off-spinner Sundar leaked far too many runs.
"If you talk about fast bowlers and Ashwin, they bowled consistently in good areas. The three of them. But I think if Washy (Washington Sundar) and Shahbaz (Nadeem) would have bowled those economical spells, the pressure created would have been more. The situation would have been different. The opposition would have scored 80-90 runs less," said the Indian captain in the post-match presentation.
Kohli also expressed his displeasure on the quality of bowls used in the first Test at the MA Chidambaram Stadium.
"The quality of balls honestly wasn't something that we were pleased to see because that has been the issue in the past as well. Just for the ball to get destroyed in 60 overs is not something that you experience as a Test side and it is not something any Test side could be prepared for. That was the reality of the first two days. But having said that, it is no excuse. England played better than us, they deserved it (to win)," said Kohli while speaking to the media after the match.
India were bundled out for 337 In reply to England's 578, thus conceding a massive 241-run lead. The visitors were then bowled out for just 178 runs in their second essay.
Meanwhile, England cricket team captain Joe Root revealed that the Three Lions wanted to take India's win out of the equation in the first Test which the visitors eventually did to take a 1-0 lead in the four-match Test series.
"It was a crucial toss but from that point we had to follow through and make the most of a very good wicket. We did that very well," said Root speaking after the match.
"To take 20 wickets in alien conditions is a brilliant job from the bowlers. We knew from the outset it was going to be a good wicket. The first partnership got us going. At different stages, guys came in and contributed. That's got to be the way - if we're going to win out here, someone has to do that. Fortunately it was me this week," he added.
"We know that India are going to come back hard at us. The idea was to get to 400. It didn't quite materialise like that. But having spent some time out there, I knew the wicket had changed drastically and knew it was going to change again," said Root while talking about England's approach in their second innings.
With this win, England have moved to the top spot in the points table in the inaugural ICC World Test Championship (WTC).
A huge win over India in the first Test has propelled England to the top of the ICC World Test Championship standings 👀#WTC21 pic.twitter.com/8AaC8XMrjr
— ICC (@ICC) February 9, 2021
The visitors have 70.2 percentage points, 0.2 points ahead of second-placed New Zealand, who have already sealed a spot for the WTC final slated to be played in June at the Lord's, London.
Australia are at the third spot with 69.2 percentage points, followed by India with 68.3 percentage points.
Feature image courtesy: Twitter/ICC
