Despite watching video footage of Jadhav's previous international innings, Morgan could not but doff his hat at the manner in which Jadhav went about assaulting his bowlers
Moments after Ravichandran Ashwin sent Moeen Ali soaring into the crowd at long-on for the winning hit on Sunday night, England captain Eoin Morgan managed to hold a smile on his face.
What the smile tried to hide was the pain that he had to endure after his bowlers could not defend a total of 350/7, their highest ODI total on Indian soil.
Local Pune batsman Kedar Jadhav blew the England bowlers away, scoring at more than three runs every two deliveries. The only time that Morgan thought the game was in England's hands was when India were reduced to 63/4.
But such was the batting beauty that any total would have been chased on that surface, especially with the manner in which the fifth-wicket duo of Virat Kohli and Jadhav paced their innings.
That India crossed the line with 11 deliveries to spare underlined Kohli's statement that he knew that the pitch was going to be better for batting when chasing.
Despite watching video footage of Jadhav's previous international innings, Morgan could not but doff his hat at the manner in which Jadhav went about assaulting his bowlers.
"What hurts the most is we had India 60-odd for four. We were right in till the middle order, but went in to bowl at worst. Certainly didn't expect Jadhav to come out and play like that. Credit to his 65-ball hundred. We take our hat off to him."
Morgan could do precious little but watch in awe at some of the shots that Jadhav and Kohli displayed.
"When you score 350, you expect to play well. That summarises the conditions here, the pitch was really really good and the boundaries were pretty small," the 30-year-old Morgan said.
One can only pity the bowlers in limited-overs that is getting increasingly batsman-oriented. Morgan said: "If anything, it proves that chasing 350, even at 63/4, you are never out of the game. You try and find ways to take wickets. That can be aggressive, you try to swing the ball with the slips in, trying to bowl negative back of the length, forcing an error in judgement on their behalf or forcing a false shot."
The England bowlers are a demoralised lot but Morgan looked at the positives from the defeat. "We took four early wickets, which is tough in sub-continent. Taking early wickets is something we've always struggled to do in the past. David Willey has done well for us particularly at home, and from there you look at different options," he said.
There is only so much that a side can plan. But execution goes for a six when the opposition counter attacks in a calculated manner. Morgan said his bowlers could have taken the fifth wicket soon, which would've got them closer to the win. But Jadhav and Kohli had different plans.
"There is always something we can do. All the plans went far off today (Sunday) and the balls went over the head, maybe those two yards on another day, and that would have been out. And they would have been five down and you are right into them. Kohli is a fantastic player, he's proven that over a long period of time."
India and England train in Pune on Tuesday before travelling to Cuttack the next day for the second ODI, which is on Thursday.
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