First-innings collapse cost England – Cook

His words were incongruous in context with the scorecard, but you knew what Alastair Cook meant when he said his England team will leave Visakhapatnam with their “heads held high”.

While there should never come a day when a defeat this crushing – in terms of runs, India have only beaten England once by a larger margin than the 246 here – is accepted without pain, you knew what Cook meant when he said his side had “a lot of reasons to be encouraged”.

The end came quickly. After admirable defiance on day four, England subsided so quickly that, wicket to wicket, they lost all 10 in their second innings for only 83 runs.

Clearly that isn’t good enough. But there were several unplayable deliveries (it is an overused word, but apt for the balls that dismissed Haseeb Hameed and Zafar Ansari) and several that were hugely demanding. Ben Stokes also received a beautiful delivery; it was no disgrace to be dismissed by it.

Perhaps the margin was a little misleading, too. England had decided to concentrate on crease occupation, inspired by South Africa lasting 143 overs in Delhi a year ago, and reasoned that, if they could survive 150, they would be close to safety; Cook admitted it may have been a mistake. They made little effort to chase their improbable target. True, it didn’t work out and true, had they played more aggressively, the margin might have been smaller. But they might have lost on day four, too.

In truth, by the time England began their second innings, this game was gone and there is no tactic that could have brought it back.

This was a game lost on the first two days. By dropping Virat Kohli on 56 (he scored 248 runs in the game and the margin of victory was 246; you don’t have to be a genius to understand his influence) and losing five wickets before stumps on day two, England sustained injuries from which they could not recover. As well as Stokes and Jonny Bairstow batted on day three, as well as Cook and Hameed batted on day four and as well as England’s bowlers – their seamers, in particular – performed on both, the wound was too deep.

“When you concede 455 and you’re 80 for five, it’s a long way back,” Cook said. “That cost us the game. Jonny Bairstow and Ben Stokes showed character and if you take Kohli’s runs out of their second innings – obviously you can’t do that – they only made 120. But when you’re behind it’s very hard to recover in these conditions. It’s all about first innings runs. We showed some good skill and fight, though.

“We made a conscious effort to play the way we did in the fourth innings. Of course, when it does not work you feel you could have been more positive. But you make a decision as a captain. We came up a bit short. We fought so hard. I’ve got myself to blame.”

Clearly the toss was important, too. But Cook was careful to honestly acknowledge its influence without hiding behind it as the reason for defeat. He knows that once sides start looking for excuses, they are already beaten.

“We can all agree it was a good toss to win,” he said. “The first day …

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