"The team will have to question themselves for the way they batted" - Zaheer Khan on the reasons for India's defeat in 1st Test vs England
Zaheer Khan believes the frontline Indian batters' inability to stitch together substantial partnerships in their second innings was primarily responsible for their loss in the first Test against England.
Ben Stokes and company set India a 231-run target on the fourth day of the series opener in Hyderabad on Sunday, January 28. The hosts were then bundled out for 202 to lose the first game of the five-match series by 28 runs.
During a discussion on Colors Cineplex, Zaheer was asked about the reasons for India's defeat. He responded:
"The first thing that comes to your mind is that the team will have to question themselves for the way they batted. You needed to build partnerships. When you are chasing such targets, you think the most important thing is to get a good start, and you got that."
The former India pacer noted that the rest of the batters failed to capitalize on a decent start.
"After that, you think that you need two half-century partnerships from the top six batters, but you were unable to do that. So that is one thing you will definitely have to keep in your mind," Zaheer said.
Rohit Sharma (39) and Yashasvi Jaiswal (15) strung together a 42-run opening partnership. Only Srikar Bharat and Ravichandran Ashwin, who scored 28 runs apiece, crossed the 25-run mark thereafter as India fell short of the target.
"They would have to think about what they could have done proactively for such a player" - Zaheer Khan on India's failure to restrict Ollie Pope
![Ollie Pope scored 196 runs in England's second innings. [P/C: Getty]](https://statico.sportskeeda.com/editor/2024/01/2757a-17064496533668-1920.jpg?w=500)
Zaheer Khan picked India's failure to dismiss a marauding Ollie Pope as another reason for their defeat. He elaborated:
"Secondly, you had taken five wickets in England's second innings for 163 runs. After that, a batter was scoring runs consistently and taking a few chances as well, and he made 196 runs. So they would have to think about what they could have done proactively for such a player."
The cricketer-turned-commentator reckons fielding lapses also contributed to India's loss.
"Thirdly, if you want to be slightly critical, then fielding, because you dropped two catches and you had to pay a lot for that in this match. So you can think about these three things for sure for the next match and the series," Zaheer stated.
Axar Patel put down an easy offering from Ollie Pope when he was on 110. KL Rahul grassed another sitter when the England right-hander was on 186.