India were beaten all ends up in the first Test as England staged a remarkable comeback to win the series opener in Hyderabad by 28 runs. Ollie Pope with a phenomenal knock of 196 runs and left-arm spinner Tom Hartley, who lived a lifetime in these four days, were the stars for the visiting English team. Skipper Ben Stokes reckoned it was the greatest triumph for his team since he took over as a captain as England were 190 runs behind after the first innings and what followed on Day 3 and Day 4 was a dramatic comeback from the new English side.
It must be hurting for India, especially given how dominant the hosts were with both bat and ball in the first two days and ended up throwing away all the advantage. Skipper Rohit Sharma blamed the top-order batters including himself for the lack of application in the second innings following a flat second half with the ball when Pope reigned supreme.
The loss has meant that the Indian team has slipped three places to fifth spot in the World Test Championship (WTC) points table as the PCT has reduced from 54.16 to 43.33. Australia earlier despite the loss stayed at the top of the table even though their PCT too reduced from 61.11 to 55. However, India were not so lucky as South Africa, New Zealand and Bangladesh acquire the places 2, 3 and 4 with a 50.00 PCT.
| Standings |
Team |
Played |
Won |
Lost |
Draw |
Points |
PCT |
| 1 |
Australia |
10 |
6 |
3 |
1 |
66 |
55.00 |
| 2 |
South Africa |
2 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
12 |
50.00 |
| 3 |
New Zealand |
2 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
12 |
50.00 |
| 4 |
Bangladesh |
2 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
12 |
50.00 |
| 5 |
India |
5 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
26 |
43.33 |
| 6 |
Pakistan |
5 |
2 |
3 |
0 |
22 |
36.66 |
| 7 |
West Indies |
4 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
16 |
33.33 |
| 8 |
England |
6 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
21 |
29.16 |
| 9 |
Sri Lanka |
2 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0.00 |
England despite the win, strayed at No. 8 as the loss of 19 points due to over-rate will come to bite them back while the West Indies stayed in 7th place as well despite their historic win against Australia in Brisbane.
The second Test between India and England begins on Friday, February 2 in Vizag as the hosts look to level the series and stay in the hunt for the WTC final.
