"Did Not Bat...": Coach Rahul Dravid Reflects On India's Edgbaston Loss Against England

Before the start of play on Day 4 of the Edgbaston Test, India were favourites to win against England, having extended their lead to 257 with seven wickets in hand and no one could have anticipated an England comeback. However, first, a poor batting performance on the fourth day saw India being bundled out for 245 in the second innings and then Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow played unbeaten knocks of 142 and 114 respectively as England chased down 378 to win the rescheduled fifth Test by seven wickets. As a result, the series that got underway last year, finished as 2-2.

Root and Bairstow did not take long before finishing the match off on Day 5 and the "Baz-Ball" brand of cricket was clearly on show. After the game ended, Team India head coach Rahul Dravid addressed a press conference where he talked about the defeat.

"I would say that we controlled the game on three days but maybe, we did not bat that well in the second innings, and in our bowling, we were not able to sustain that intensity and we must give credit to England for the way they played. Root and Bairstow formed a brilliant partnership, we got 2-3 chances but were not able to capitalise. But you need to applaud the opponent," said Dravid.

"Obviously, it has been disappointing for us. We had a couple of opportunities in South Africa as well, here as well, I just think it is something we need to look that and need to work upon. We have been very good at that in the last couple of years in terms of taking those 20 wickets and win those Test matches but we have not been able to do that in the last couple of months. It could be a variety of factors, it could be just maybe we need to maintain that intensity and maintain that level of fitness or performance right