Collingwood reflects on his dismissal by Zaheer Khan

Collingwood, who hit a gutsy 63, put on 112 with Michael Vaughan, but England were all out for 355, leaving the tourists just 73 to go 1-0 up.

"We have done a lot of good things in this game but it's not quite worked out our way," said Collingwood.

"Give credit to India's bowlers. They put the ball in good areas."

Interview: Paul Collingwood a

Collingwood singled out Zaheer Khan, who took nine wickets in the match, for particular praise.

"He really does control his swing both ways," said the Durham man.

"It's hard to line him up sometimes. We want to combat that by altering our position in the crease but it's been difficult for us."

Collingwood described Vaughan's 124 as an "exceptional" innings, and concurred that the momentum had been drained from England's resistance once the captain had been dismissed.

"It's a shame that a bit of bad luck ended a good partnership," he said.

"We were getting ourselves out of a big hole and [Vaughan] was making things look very easy, but unfortunately he got bowled off his legs.

"If we do lose, [the final Test at] The Oval is a big game for us.