England captain Andrew Flintoff had reason to smile at the end of the first Test against India in Nagpur on Sunday despite his team being unable to convert its ascendancy over four days into victory on the final day of the match.
"The team showed lot of character. We are proud of the way we performed. With three debutants in the team we competed with one of the best teams for five days," Flintoff said.
The all-rounder said he was not at all scared by India's late assault, which saw them take on the English bowlers in the final session.
"[Mahendra] Dhoni is an explosive batsman and [Sachin] Tendulkar is one of the best in the world. But we knew it would have required some effort from them to chase the total that we had set," Flintoff said, at the end of final day's play at the VCA stadium in Nagpur on Sunday.
Irfan Pathan (35 from 25 balls) and Tendulkar (28 from 19 balls) ignited Indian hopes before the two teams agreed to a draw with 108 runs still needed for victory.
Captaining the side in absence of regular captain Michael Vaughan, who returned home due to an injury, Flintoff said he enjoyed the extra responsibility.
"I enjoyed the captaincy, concentrated on doing simple things correctly. I am grateful for the help by the teammates. Paul Collingwood, Andrew Strauss and Steve Harmison were just fantastic out there," he said.
He praised pacer Matthew Hoggard, whose 6 for 57 in the first innings, gave England control of the match.
"Hoggard gave us the upper hand with his six wickets in the first innings. He showed control and discipline on a wicket that was not conducive for pace bowling."
He also complimented the efforts of debutants Alastair Cook, who scored a century on debut, and Monty Panesar. The left-arm spinner took three wickets in the match, one less than Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh combined, while bowling twice as less overs.
"To get 60 and 100 against the two best spinners in the world says a lot about Cook. Panesar also bowled well, he showed great control."
Flintoff said the showing has given England the psychological boost ahead of the second Test in Mohali.
"For five days we scrapped and fought hard. We are proud of what we have done. We have competed well and we can take a lot of heart out of this performance and, hopefully, carry this to Mohali."
