Alastair Cook says England’s second-innings fightback against India in the first Test will give his side confidence for the second Test.
England lost the first Test on the final day in Ahmedabad as the hosts took a 1-0 lead in the series.

But captain Cook was encouraged by England’s improved second-innings 406, to which he contributed a defiant 176.
“We fought hard. We can take a lot from the second half of that game with the batting,” he said.

Test Match Special analysis

Geoffrey Boycott

Ex-England batsman & TMS summariser
“We can’t win a Test match on Cook and Prior batting well and Swann bowling well. We’re not going to get 11 top performances, but we need more than three.”

Listen to Geoffrey and Jonathan Agnew review each day’s play on the TMS podcast

“There was a lot of character showed by the lads. We need to work hard so when we go to Mumbai we can start again.”
The second Test of the four-match series begins on Friday where India can take an unassailable lead with a victory in Mumbai.

Forced to follow on after being bowled out for 191 in the first innings, England had Cook and Matt Prior to thank for staving off the threat of an innings defeat that seemed likely when they slipped to 199-5 in the second.

However, Prior’s dismissal for 91, half an hour into the fifth morning ended a sixth-wicket stand of 157.
It was the first of five wickets to fall for 50 runs as left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha finished with 4-120 – and match figures of 9-165.

India overhauled a target of 77 for the loss of only Virender Sehwag to seal a convincing victory less than an hour after lunch.
“There was an outside chance,” Cook said of England’s prospects at the start of the day. “We were in a very tough situation and to get to the last day there is always a glimmer of hope.
“Matty and I knew we would have to do the majority of the work. It had to be something very special – unfortunately, it wasn’t meant to be.

“And before you listen to too many ex playing ‘experts’ being negative, ask them if they ever won a Test series in India… #28years”

England vice-captain Stuart Broad on Twitter
“If we’re to win the series out here, we need everyone to contribute.”

Cook admitted selecting only one specialist spinner in Graeme Swann – slow left-armer Monty Panesar was overlooked in favour of a three-man seam attack – was a “tough” decision. But he insisted: “The crux of the matter is we got 190 in the first innings. On that wicket, as we proved in the second innings, runs were there to be had.
“The middle order didn’t score enough runs. They didn’t deliver in this game and they know that.”

Vice-captain Stuart Broad apologised for England’s defeat before criticising the analysis of some former players in the media.
The seamer, who took 0-97 from 24 overs in India’s first innings and did not bowl in the second, wrote on Twitter: “India outplayed us. A few positives but on the whole poor so sorry for that. Onwards and upwards.

“And before you listen to too many ex-playing ‘experts’ being negative, ask them if they ever won a Test series in India….#28years.

“On DRS [the decision review system, which is not in use in this series]. I hear 12 decisions would have been overturned in the Test. Potentially match-changing but India would have had 8 of them #itsneeded.”

Cook and Prior scored a combined 356 runs in the match, while the rest of England’s frontline top seven – Kevin Pietersen, Nick Compton, Jonathan Trott, Ian Bell and Samit Patel – managed only 114.
England were undermined in both innings by the loss of wickets in quick succession; Ojha was on a hat-trick in the first and Umesh Yadav in the second.

India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said: “What was important was to open up at least one end, so we could create a false sense of panic. We had to be calculating, and it paid off.”

Courtesy: BBC.CO.UK