'Hosts' India beat England in Nottingham: How British media, fans reacted

A large contingent of fans is a given but dry and hot conditions in England have meant Team India cricketers may have never had it this good here.

PTI Photo

English media and fans were not too pleased with how their team fared in the first of three ODIs against India. Eoin Morgan's side crashed to a rather embarrassing 8-wicket defeat in Nottingham on Thursday with Kuldeep Yadav walking away with career-best figures of 6 for 25.

That the world's No. 1 ODI team would face a stiff challenge against the Men in Blue was a given. That the side would go down with ten overs still left to play was not. And after conceding the three-T20I series, England were completely outclassed in the first ODI as well. "In warm, dry conditions the tourists look a more complete side and it is those conditions that are looking increasingly likely to be a huge factor in the five-Test series that follows," read a report on BBC. And while Indian cricketers are indeed tourists, many on Twitter felt Virat Kohli's side looks like it is enjoying home conditions. "England look out of sorts, it is India that looks at home. They always had fans here, now they have the weather on their side too," wrote a cricket enthusiast on Twitter.

India beating England in England, always a happy feeling, grind them more #EnglandVsIndia #Cricket

— Amit Mohanty (@ameetn21) July 12, 2018

Then there were questions aplenty about the new thorn in England's flesh. "How do you solve a problem like Kuldeep Yadav? It is a question that could well be vexing English batsmen for the remainder of the summer," predicted The Guardian. The wily spinner had the best figures by a left-arm spinner in ODIs and continued to make English batsmen look extremely edgy. He was the main architect of England's rather tame total of 268 - one that hardly ever looked like it would challenge a batting line-up which boasts of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul and MS Dhoni.

With heads held high, Team India now moves to London for the second ODI of the series. And with fans once again expected to make their presence felt at Lord's and with the sun beating down, Kohli and Co. may continue to feel completely at home against the hosts.