NEW DELHI: Ravi Shastri and
Virat Kohli started the decisive day of the first Test against
England
with an animated pep talk on the sidelines, but it didn't make much of an impact. An inspired
James Anderson
led the England attack once again and the tourists ripped India's chase apart to win by 227 runs at
MA Chidambaram stadium
on Tuesday with more than a session to spare.
FULL SCORECARDThe decisive day began with India 381 runs adrift of a world record run-chase of 420, but the dusty Chepauk track kept crumbling to allow
Jack Leach to spin a web in his spell of 4/76, after Anderson (3/17) had removed Shubman Gill, Ajinkya Rahane and Rishabh Pant.
The only resistance in India's second innings came from Gill and skipper Virat Kohli. But Gill was cleaned up by Anderson for 50 and Kohli's stumps were rattled by Ben Stokes for 72.
"Credit to England; they got stuck in and put up a big total on the board. Our body language and intensity was not up to the mark," said Kohli at the post-match presentation.
"We have to understand the things that we have done decently in this game and the things that we haven't, and as a side we are always looking to improve. England were far more professional and consistent throughout the Test match than we were," Kohli added.
India's big defeat was significant since it is only their fourth loss at home in the last 10 years. Three of those defeats have come against England and one against Australia.
The defeat, after the historic high at Gabba last month, led to an outpouring of reactions on social media from experts and fans alike.
The second Test will be played at the same venue from Feb 13, and it will be interesting to see if the surface changes in any way after this embarrassing loss for the home team.