Team India's batting unit faced the ire of fans on social media after yet another poor performance in a pressure situation. They surrendered meekly on Day 4 of the first Test against England, resulting in a 28-run loss at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad.
Ollie Pope scripted a phenomenal comeback for England in their second innings with his majestic 196-run knock. As a result, the English team managed to reach 420, setting a target of 231.
Yashasvi Jaiswal (15) got off to a tentative start and looked uneasy at the crease before Tom Hartley dismissed him in the 12th over. Shubman Gill also got out in the same over for a two-ball duck, continuing his poor run of form.
Rohit Sharma looked in good touch and kept India in the hunt for a while with a 39-run knock. Tom Hartley, however, sent him back to the pavilion in the 18th over to give England a massive breakthrough.
Things went downhill from there for India as the rest of the batters went into a shell and played defensively before getting out.
The lower-order batters fought for a while, but England eventually bundled India out for 202 to register a memorable victory.
Fans were disappointed to witness the lackluster performance from the Indian batting unit and expressed their reactions by sharing memes on social media platforms. Here are some of the top memes:
"I thought 231 was chaseable but we couldn't apply ourselves with the bat" - India captain Rohit Sharma after loss vs England
Speaking at the post-match presentation, Rohit Sharma credited Ollie Pope for playing a special knock in the third innings. Sharma said he thought the target was chaseable, but that the batting department failed to do the job.
"Cricket has been played over four days and it's hard to pinpoint where it went wrong," Sharma said. "Exceptional batting by Pope and I just witnessed one of the best knocks from the overseas batter. I thought 231 was chaseable but we couldn't apply ourselves with the bat. We analysed what went wrong and I thought the bowlers executed the plans well but you have to give credit to Pope as it was a great knock."
The Indian captain continued:
"The lower order showed the top-order that you need to show character and fight. We didn't take our chance with the bat and I hope the guys will learn from that."
The second Test of the five-match series will commence on Friday (February 2) in Vizag.
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