England Beat India By 28 Runs At Hyderabad; Read Rohit Sharma's Blunt Statement After Defeat

After Team India faced a humiliating defeat at Hyderabad's Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium on Sunday in the opening battle of the five-match series, Indian skipper Rohit Sharma delivered a blunt verdict on his team's performance. Despite dominating on the first two days, India lost the match by 28 runs. Ollie Pope emerged as a hero for England as he scored 196 runs and single-handedly turned the tables around.

After the match, replying to a question about what went wrong for team India, Rohit Sharma blamed the team's collective performance, which was not up to the mark, especially the team's batting in the fourth innings.

"Hard to pinpoint where it went wrong. Having got a lead of 190, we thought we were very much in the batting. Exceptional batting is one of the best I have seen in Indian conditions by an overseas batter. We bowled in the right areas. The bowlers executed the plans really well, you got to take your hat to Pope and say well played. Overall, we failed as a team. We didn't bat well enough. I wanted them to take the game to the fifth day. The lower order fought really well there. You need to be brave enough, which I thought we weren't," Rohit Sharma said.

Chasing a target of 231 set by England, which could have been chased easily in two days, India bundled out for only 202 in 69.2 overs, resulting in a humiliating defeat at home. With a victory at Hyderabad, England is now ahead with a 1-0 lead in the five-test series.