ENG vs IND | India were in the driver's seat going into the final day, admits Joe Root 

India are known to be slow-starters when it comes to overseas Test series. But, they went from strength to strength in the first Test against England and set the tone for the game with their excellent bowing on day one at Trent Bridge. From there on, England was forced to play the catch-up game. Going into the fifth and final day, India were 157 runs away from a victory with nine wickets in hand, having started well overnight, putting up 52 runs on the board for the loss of a solitary wicket. However, no play was possible on the final day due to rain, which forced a draw.

Speaking in the post-match press conference, English skipper Joe Root admitted that the Virat Kohli-led India were in a position of ascendancy going into the final day.

"India were probably in the driver's seat going in today. We know on a wicket like that, get a couple of wickets across that, the game can turn on its head," Root stated in the presser, reported TOI.

But he also reckoned that the pressure of batting on the fifth-day wicket might well have got India into troubled waters and it was something England could have built on. 

"The pressures of batting on the fifth day wicket, things can very quickly (could) have fallen in our favour. We certainly believed that we would have been able to create normal chances if we had been good enough in the field and taken those, could have been exciting, fortunately the weather has won," he said.

Root, who made a terrific century for the hosts on day four and helped them set a target of 209 for India, stated that he would have loved to have a go at the tourists with perhaps 40 overs and create chances if not for the poor weather. 

"I think from our perspective, at one stage, we could have potentially 40 overs, in that period, (I) felt like we would have been able to create many chances on the surface like that. So in many ways actually, the weather has robbed us all of a fantastic final day's Test cricket, which is a shame.” 

India and England will now meet in the second Test at Lord's on August 12.