England captain Andrew Flintoff praised his young side for showing character to draw the first Test against India on Sunday. "I'm proud of the lads," he told reporters. "Coming into this test match, a few things went against us.
"It is one of the youngest sides England have fielded in four years, three debutants."
England dominated much of the match despite the absence of injured captain Michael Vaughan and fast bowler Simon Jones. Vice-captain Marcus Trescothick also returned home for personal reasons.
Flintoff, drafted in as captain at the last minute, said: "In all we scraped and fought (and) for four and a half days we had the best of the test match.
"Lots of things were said about us, we had got no chance, this and that.
England recovered from 246 for seven on day one to reach 393 all out and then restricted India to 323 after seamer Matthew Hoggard captured six for 57.
Flintoff praised 21-year-old opening batsman Alastair Cook, who notched 104 not out in his maiden test after travelling from the A tour in West Indies as an injury replacement.
India finished on 260 for six when bad light forced the match to be called off as a draw, chasing an improbable fourth innings target of 368.
Flintoff acknowledged he was a bit concerned when India stepped up scoring after tea.
However, the all-rounder felt the performance in Nagpur had set up the rest of the three-test series for his side. "Most of the test we competed. We can take a lot of heart," he said.
The second Test starts in Mohali on Thursday.
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