 Tendulkar fared better than most with five fours on a difficult pitch |
India batting hero Sachin Tendulkar admitted a few more runs would have been difficult for his team to score. England mustered only 125 but India won by just four wickets and took 29.3 overs, Tendulkar top-scoring with 35.
"A slightly bigger total would have made it a very close game because the wicket had started to play uneven and the odd ball kept low," he said.
"Around 175 would've been a fighting total because the ball was up and down, but overall it was good for us."
Having chosen to field first, India soon reduced England to 55-5 in the 19th over and Tendulkar added: "We started very well.
"Irfan (Pathan 2-20) bowled a wonderful spell, Munaf (Patel 3-18) got some wickets then we had Harbhajan (Singh 1-27) and Ramesh Powar (3-24) backed by some very good fielding."
Chasing their small target, India twice lost two wickets in an over.
 | We took a bit of a gamble to bowl first and we knew we needed a big performance from our bowlers |
"I felt we were rushing a bit too much so I just had to back off a bit and hang in for a while and not go for big shots," Tendulkar explained. "It was important there was a partnership."
India now have 11 days before their next match, against West Indies in Ahmedabad, but Tendulkar sees the gap as a positive aspect.
"You can lose momentum or gain it," he said. "Sometimes it doesn't help to practice for days in a row so it's nice we can get a break where you can get back home and spend some time with the family.
Skipper Dravid added his team needed to sharpen their batting for future matches in the event.
"I thought we lost a couple of wickets unnecessarily at the end which was a bit disappointing but I thought the boys played some great cricket," he said.
"We took a bit of a gamble to bowl first and we knew we needed a big performance from our bowlers.
"They delivered with a great start, also from the guys in the field and the spinners bowled beautifully."
Dravid explained some of the factors behind a controversial surface that saw all of the batsmen struggle and a top-score of only 38.
"It's a newly laid wicket and it's the first part of the season so wickets tend to have an inconsistent bounce when you play in October," he said.
"The pitch did play a part but we could have batted a bit better so that's an area we can look at, but we're happy to start the tournament the way we did."
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