kohli shines bright for India with two centuries in the loss...

Set challenging goals in the last 364 days, India has rejected the opportunity to play safe and save a draw when they went for it, only to come up short when their lower order batting collapsed in the final session.

For Cole, who led the attack India with a brilliant century, the loss of 48-run result was bitter, but the bat praised his teammates for throwing caution to the wind.

"I'm really proud of the way the boys played," said Cole at a press conference.

"At no point are we retreat. And we're not going to retreat somewhere. If at any point we mean that we could play for a draw, we would have lost 150 is to be honest.

"So we went for it. That's what I'm happy."

Cole, who filled in as skipper for the first time after regular captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni withdrew due to injury, led by the example of a pair of classic beats captain.

He scored centuries in each innings, including a career best 141 on Saturday before he was caught in the deep, effectively ending India's chances of winning.

"I went for my shot. I do not feel any regret," he said.

"I could have put it better. If left on the border, it could have been different. But it's great IFS.

"I was just responding to watch the ball and be positive ... play on instinct."

Despite losing the match, Cole and impressed with his captain, but said he has no plans for taking over from Dhoni, who will be in place when the second Test starts in Brisbane next week.

"I would be very happy that he is healthy and affordable," said Cole. "It does not matter if I have 'the' in front of my name or not. It does not change anything as far as my thinking is concerned.

"I pretty enough friendship and respect between the team that I can go and talk to them every now and then, and keep them on the same page.

Posted in: India News