England vs India 2018: Five reasons why India lost the first Test

England humbled the world number 1 Test side India by 31 runs in the first Test match at the Edgbaston Cricket Ground in Birmingham.

It was a completely entertaining match but the visitors surrendered on multiple occasions to hand England a 1-0 lead. After scoring 274 and handing England a 13-run first-innings lead, England were in a spot of bother at 93/7 in the second innings before a cameo from Sam Curran pushed them to 180 in the second essay.

Chasing 194 runs in the fourth innings to win the Test match was always going to be tough with the wickets assisting the pace bowlers and England having four good fast bowlers in their ranks. India managed to score just 152, handing the hosts a 31-run win.

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Lethargic bowling to the tailenders in the second innings

England v India: Specsavers 1st Test - Day Three

After conceding a lead of just 13 runs in the first innings, Indian bowlers started well in the second innings as R Ashwin dismissed Alastair Cook, Keaton Jennings and Joe Root in quick succession and put pressure on the England batsmen.

Ishant Sharma proved why he is India's most experienced bowler by taking four wickets including the ones of Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler in one over and reduced the hosts to 87/7 in the second innings.

It was then that Sam Curran and Adil Rashid started batting together. They batted brilliantly and took the game away from India. Thanks to Curran's 63, the last four batsmen alone contributed as many as 93 runs to put their team in a decent position. What looked like a target around 130 for India, became 194, thanks to some lethargic bowling from the Indian bowlers.

Though they beat the bat on a few occasions, a majority of the balls before Curran settled were either short or wide or both. It will be unfair to put the blame on the bowlers but they could have kept the pressure on England by bowling some tight lines.

Sam Curran, the next big all-rounder in the making

England v India: Specsavers 1st Test - Day Two

What a match this has been for Sam Curran! He came into bat late on day 1 and made sure that his team didn't get all-out inside the first day itself by scoring 24.

When Murali Vijay and Shikhar Dhawan were going all guns blazing, it was Curran who provided the breakthrough as he trapped Vijay in front of the stumps and had the wicket of KL Rahul a couple of balls later. The next over, he sent Dhawan back to the pavilion and came back to break the partnership between Hardik Pandya and Virat Kohli when they were starting to get into their groove by bowling a brilliant yorker to dismiss Hardik.

More than these, his cameo of 63 in the second innings proved to be the difference between a 130 target and a 190+ target for India. He initially rode his luck but took on the bowlers and cashed in on even the slightest of errors committed by them.

In the fourth innings with the ball, he dismissed India's second-best overseas batsmen after Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, and put pressure on India. He was rightly awarded the Man of the Match for his all-round efforts.

No support for Virat Kohli, the batsman in the first innings

England v India: Specsavers 1st Test - Day Two

India managed to score 274 runs in the first innings and conceded a 13-run lead to the hosts. Out of the 274 scored by the visitors, as many as 149 came off the bat of skipper Virat Kohli. While Kohli was leaving the ball well outside the off-stump and was cautious in his approach, his teammates were impatient and threw their wickets away.

KL Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane, Dinesh Karthik and Murali Vijay, every single batsman in the top-6 failed to show some resistance and be at the crease with the skipper. Hardik Pandya, batting at number 7, applied himself and showed more resistance than any of the other front-line batsmen in the first innings.

Had Kohli got a couple of 50-run stands with two of these batsmen, it would have been a different story in the match as it would have given India the pole position in the Test. None of the top-5 batsmen barring Kohli managed to score more than 30 even once in the Test.

Even the experienced batsmen like Murali Vijay, who leaves the ball so well, Rahane, Dhawan and Rahul were caught poking the ball on numerous occasions and got out to rash shots.

Jonny Bairstow and Joe Root partnership

Australia v England - Fifth Test: Day 5

What set the tone for England in the Test match is the partnership between skipper Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow on day one of the match. Root walked out to bat after the dismissal of Alastair Cook and looked solid right from the first ball. After getting the wickets of Keaton Jennings and David Malan, India were threatening to force themselves into the game.

That's when Root was joined by his Yorkshire team-mate Jonny Bairstow and the duo were in complete control against the Indian bowlers. They put on 114 runs for the fourth wicket and both the batsmen posted their half-centuries. Root, yet again, failed to convert his fifty to a century as he was run out for 80 while Bairstow was castled for 70.

Dropped catches

England v India: Specsavers 1st Test - Day One

Whenever India toured overseas, their main nemesis has been the catches that are being dropped by the Indian fielders, especially the ones fielding in the slip cordon.

The story is no different this time as there were as many as four catches in the match, two in each innings, dropped by the slip fielders. It all started in the sixth over of the day when Ajinkya Rahane dropped Keaton Jennings at gully before Dinesh Karthik, who was below-par with the gloves throughout the Test, dropped one in the last over of the day.

Though India's catching was good in the second innings, Shikhar Dhawan made a mess out of two catches. Those catches had cost the Indian team 86 runs in the match. Curran scored 50 runs after his catch was dropped and India lost the game by 31 runs.