IND vs ENG 2021: "India should think that they could have won the game"- Zaheer Khan

Former Indian pacer Zaheer Khan believes the Indian team will be thinking they could have won the game had play been possible on Day 5 of the first Test against England. India needed just 157 runs to win the game with nine wickets in hand, but rain played spoilsport and the game ended in a stalemate.

Although India would look at this as a missed opportunity, Zaheer Khan believes that they would look at their bowling performance as a motivation for the upcoming Tests. He also felt the wicket was getting better to bat on, as seen on Day 4, and India certainly were favorites to win the game.

Speaking to Cricbuzz, Zaheer Khan explained how India can look back at this drawn first Test.

"India should think that they could have won the game. The pacers took 20 wickets and that is a big positive and that will be useful to motivate everyone in the upcoming four Tests. Batting 4th innings isn't always easy but the wicket was not difficult to bat on. So you would definitely say that India had more chances to win the game," Zaheer Khan stated.

England will feel lucky that rain arrived: Zaheer Khan

Zaheer Khan wants the Indian team to look back at the first Test in a positive way. He believes the good performances that the Indian team had will serve as a positive for the next games. But he also believes that both teams would feel they had a chance to win the game.

"Overall you will need to see what positives you can take forward and what we can learn that we should not do some things and improve. India might be saying that England were lucky that rain arrived. On the other hand, England might be saying that they had the bowlers to take wickets in such conditions," Zaheer Khan concluded.

The second Test between India and England will be played at Lord's from Thursday (August 12).

1st Test. It's all over! Match drawn https://t.co/TrX6JMiei2 #ENGvIND

— BCCI (@BCCI) August 8, 2021